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ACROSS THE CONTINENT 



L-ETTE RS 



WRITTEN TO 



THE CHURCH ADVOCATE, 



During the Summer of 1879. 

X 

BY Jc^'h. REDSECKER. 
I' 



LEBANON, PA. 

Compliments of 

J. H. REDSECKER. 






TO 
THE MEMBERS OF 

THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE EXCURSION, 

WITH WHOM I MADE THE TOUR 

ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 

AND TO THE 

FRIENDS IN CALIFORNIA 

WHO RECEIVED US SO CORDIALLY AND 

TREATED US SO KINDLY, THIS LITTLE 

VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED. 



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INTRODUCTION. 



As I may never have another opportunity of communicating with 
you, dear reader, I want to take you into my confidence and tell 
you a secret. I have longed to write a book. Indeed it has been 
the ambition of my life, haunting me like a horrible nightmare. I 
have not done so for several reasons. It was not for want of time, 
for I had all the time there is — twenty-four hours in every day, and 
where is the person who has more ? Neither was it from fear of the 
book reviewers, for only a few persons read what they say, and 
soon forget it. You may, then, wonder why I did not write it. 
I'll tell you. A lack of ability alone prevented me from fulfilling 
a long cherished desire, as it doubtless has many others. I was 
conscious, too, that it would be difficult to find a publisher willing 
to assume the risk of its publication, or persons credulous enough 
to purchase the book. Do you wonder any longer? 

The Poet Longfellow has beautifully said we should 
" lieam to labor and to wait." 
I have done so. I have labored unceasingly and waited patiently, and 

" With a heart for any fate " 
have ventured upon the sea of literature. The hour of my triumph 
has come; the measure of my ambition is full. I have made a 
book — and it isn't much of a book to boast of after all. 

Be assured of this, the reviewers will not get hold of it to praise 
it, nor will the public have an opportunity of wasting effort in an 
attempt to purchase it^ Let me tell you how I came to write it. 

Two years ago, when in California, the Rev. Dr. Vincent sug- 
gested holding tw^o Sunday-school Assemblies in the State — one in 
the Yosemite Valley, and the other on the Pacific Coast, at Mon 
terey. The suggestion was cordially seconded by the California 
State Sunday-school Association, and the arrangements for the 
Assemblies placed in its hands. As the time approached, arrange- 



3 PREFACE. 

ments were made in the east to convey about a car-load of excur- 
sionists to the Assemblies, but the excursion grew on the hands of 
the management, so that it numbered over three hundred tourists. 
It was my good fortune to be a member of this Pacific Institute 
Excursion, which crossed the continent to attend these Assemblies, 
and to see the wonders of California. Now, it isn't every person 
that goes to California. It is an event in one's life; something to 
boast of, you know. At the request of friends I resolved to write 
letters descriptive of my travels to the Church Advocate, published 
in Harrisburg, Pa., and let the readers — to whom I am not an entire 
stranger — know something about the Excursion, the Assemblies, 
and the wonders of our country. 

When the letters were written it was not my purpose to republish 
them; but a number of the tourists requesting copies of the papers 
containing my correspondence, and being unable to supply them, I 
determined to re-publish them in this more convenient and perma- 
nent form, as a memento of our travels, for private gratuitous cir- 
culation among the tourists and personal friends. 

Some additional matter has been added of interest to the tourists, 
which was withheld for want of space in the over-crowded col- 
umns of a weekly paper. 

I have written only of that which I saw and heard. In the lan- 
guage of Thomas de Quincy I would say. "Let him (the reader) 
read the sketch as belonging to one who wishes to be profoundly 
anonymous." If, therefore, there is anything deserving condem- 
nation, please remember it was written by one who wishes to be 
"profoundly anonymous. " If, on the contrary, there is anything 
in the letters that is particularly pleasing, the reader will oblige me 
by turning to the title-page, and remembering who wrote it. 

I hope the letters will recall many pleasing incidents to the mem- 
bers of the Pacific Institute Excursion, and be of interest to those 
who have never made the tour "Across the Continent." 

Lebanon, Pa. J. H. R. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



NUMBER ONE. 

STARTING— THE WEST PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION- 
DRIVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY, &C. 

Chicago, May 26, 1879. 

I don't know whether we are indebted to'Samuel Bowles or Schuy- 
ler Colfax for originating the expression [Across the Continent] 
which heads this correspondence, but certain it is that Solomon was 
quite right when he said, "There is no new thing under the sun." 
Old ideas are taken up, revamped, and sent forth clothed in new 
language, but nevertheless, they are the same old things after all. 

Dr. Dio Lewis, in his book called "Our Digestion," gives some 
excellent advice, which, if followed, will have a tendency to make 
well people sick and send sick people to their graves, while their 
friends are left to mourn their untimely death and inherit their 
"portable property," as Mr. Wemmick — he with the "post office of 
a mouth"— alliteratively called it. Dr. Lewis advises, in the book 
just mentioned, that fat people shall keep "their eyes open and their 
mouths shut;" and when I finally decided to become a member of 
the "Pacific Institute Excursion," with its high-sounding title, and 
still higher purpose of combining instruction with travel, I resolved, 
for once, to follow the doctor's advice, — at least in part. I resolved 
to keep not only my eyes open, but my ears, too, with a mental reser- 
vation about the mouth. I resolved I would see and hear all I could 
and write it out for The Advocate. Whether it will be edifying 
and instructive will remain an open question. With that, however, 
I have nothing to do. And now, having said this much by way of 
preface, let me begin at the beginning. 



6 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

When the West Pennsylvania brethren arranged for their Sunday- 
school convention, I hadn't "California on the brain," and so 
promised to be with them, as did Elder Sigler, of The Gem. He, 
accompanied by Elder A. H. Long, left on the 20th inst., and was 
present from the beginning to the close. It was my misfortune to 
get there only for the afternoon and evening of the last day, and 
so I missed all the good things that had been said previously. Of 
one thing I am certain, they lost nothing by my absence. 

The convention was held in Harmony, Butler county, a quaint 
old town built seventy years ago by George Rapp, the founder of 
the community now residing at Economy. George Rapp, accom- 
panied by his nephew Frederick, who was also his adopted son, 
came to this country from Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1804, and 
settled on the Connoquenessing creek in Butler county. Here he 
purchased nearly eight thousand acres of land. He had about 
eight hundred men and women colonists with him. The first ^year 
was one of privation, and about half of the men were sent out to find 
work for themselves, while the others staid and began to clear the 
ground and get ready to build. 

Those who were sent away returned in the spring, each bringing 
his earnings with him, for they hold everything in common. The 
houses built by the Rappites are still standing, monuments of their 
German architecture. They are old and quaint-looking, with 
pointed gables and square windows, and many of them have deep 
arched cellars, resembling a dungeon more than a cellar. On a 
high hill close to the town and overlooking the country for miles, 
Rapp had an arched seat cut in the solid stone where he used to sit 
and watch the men at work, seeing that every one did his duty. It 
is a nice place, and on warm summer days it was much pleasanter 
for him to sit there smoking his long German pipe than to toil in 
the hot sun. Brother Sigler thinks he didn't smoke, but I am quite 
positive on this point. 

We also visited the graveyard, which is enclosed by a wall of 
nicely dressed sandstone, each stone being about two feet long, one 
foot high, and sixteen inches in width. The wall is five feet high, 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



surmounted by a coping of dressed stone, and at intervals of twenty 
feet, are little turrets. The entrance is through an arched stone 
gateway over which are inscriptions on a marble tablet, stating that 
here repose the remains of one hundred members of the Harmony 
community who died between the years 1805 and 1815, and passages 
from the Bible in reference to the resurrection. The gate is made 
of one solid stone, set on a pivot, and is six feet wide and about 
seven feet high. Inside the inclosure there is not the least sign of 
a grave or a gravestone; simply a level grass plat. I suppose this 
is to indicate that "Death levels all, both great and small," as the 
old primers used to have it. In 1815 they sold their landed interests 
and moved to Indiana and founded New Harmony, on the Wabash. 
They were not successful there, and after nine years they returned 
to Pennsylvania, and located and built Economy. The community 
now numbers about one hundred. They are estimated to be worth 
many millions. 

Their old church at Harmony is still standing. They reserved it 
when they sold their other property, and subsequently gave it to the 
German Reformed congiegation gratuitously. They are moral, 
live a life of celibacy and profess to learn more of and follow 
Jesus. 

On Friday morning, in company with Brother Sigler and several 
young ladies and gentlemen, we came across the country to New 
Brighton, where we were to take the cars. It was the roughest 
road I have ever traveled. I don't believe you could find a worse 
one if you were to go out rough-road hunting. Your correspondent 
held the lines, and as we didn't want to miss the train, like Jehu, 
he "drove furiously," giving all a good "shaking up." In the 
afternoon we came to Wooster, where Brother Cassel met us. He 
and Brother John Willaman took us to Smithville, where we staid 
all night with our good Brother Willaman, where Elder Sigler 
preached, and where we saw a number of old friends. 

The church at Wooster is now in a prosperous condition, and is 
under the pastoral care of Elder Cassel, who is well liked by the 
people. They enjoyed a precious work of grace last winter, and 



8 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



have added some sixty to the membership. The Sunday-school has 
largely increased, and this interest is also excellent. They have 
recently repainted and fixed up the house of worship, so that it 
presents a pleasant and attractive appearance. This is a good point 
for work, and the Ohio Eldership should give Wooster some special 
care. I met several of the brethren, and very much enjoyed my 
brief visit. Just as I was about leaving I had the pleasure of meet- 
ing Elder Geo. Wilson, who, though in advanced years, bears his 
age well and has a mind as vigorous as in former years. 

At Wooster I joined three of our excursionists from Lebanon, 
and several from Cumberland county, and we came through safely 
to this city, reaching here yesterday morning at six o'clock. 

Henceforth I become an integral part of the great excursion, 
which numbers over three hundred persons, and I shall hereafter 
write of our experiences by the way. 

Here our excursion really only begins. We leave to-morrow at 
ten o'clock, ma Chicago and Northwestern railroad in a special 
train. Chicago and the excursion will be reserved for a future 
letter. 






ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



NUMBER TWO. 

chicago— robert collyer— the stock yards— packing 

establishments— starting— omaha to ogden— 

reception— speeches. 

Salt Lake, June 2, 1879. 

My last letter wa.s from Chicago. I said that I had become a part 
of the great Pacific Institute Excursion, the members of which 
gathered at the Palmer House, like segments of many family cir- 
cles, and shall be known hereafter as that great composite, the 
P. I. E. 

Sunday was one of Chicago's rainy days, but still a party of us 
went to hear Robert Collyer. His sermon was from Gen. xxxi : 38. 
" This twenty years have I been with thee." It was an anniver- 
sary sermon, telling of his advent among them twenty years ago, 
and how they had grown during those years. He said they believed 
in God; in Jesus, his son, who came to reveal the Father's purposes; 
faith in man — in the power of God to reveal himself to man; faith 
in the Bible; in eternal life, and in the life like that set forth in the 
sermon on the mount. He is a pleasant speaker, and brings much 
of his old Methodist unction with him into the pulpit, a fact to which 
he referred in the sermon. We had hoped to see some of the Sun- 
day-schools, as well as to hear some of Chicago's famous orthodox 
preachers, but were prevented by the rain and other circumstances. 

I shall not attempt to describe the early history of Chicago, from 
its first permanent settlement in 1804; its incorporation into a 
city in 1837, and its subsequent growth and rapid development; its 
great fire in 1871, and again in 1874. With these your readers are 
already familiar. We visited the stock yards and other points of 
interest on Monday. The stock yards and pork packing establish- 
ment are truly wonders. The amount of land controlled by the 
company is 345 acres, of which the yards and pens occupy nearly 



10 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



200 acres. The hotel and its grounds occupy 45 acres more. The 
capacity of the yards is more than 25,000 head of cattle, 100,000 
hogs, and 22,000 sheep, besides stalls for more than 500 horses. 
There are more than thirty-two miles of under drainage, eight miles 
of streets and alleys, four miles of water troughs, and ten miles of 
feeding troughs. The place is a city in itself, and has a post office, 
bank, churches, schools, telegraph office, etc. The yards connect 
with all the railroads leading into the city. Everything seems con- 
fusion, but is regulated with the utmost care and precision. 

The packing house is a wonder. It has a capacity for slaughter- 
ing 12,000 hogs daily. At the time of our visit they were kill- 
ing only 3,000 daily. The hogs are driven into pens on the third 
story, and come out at the basement salted pork, packed, ready for 
the market. They are railroaded through the establishment as ra- 
pidly as bills are put through the Pennsylvania Legislature. The 
hogs are swung up by the legs, passed to the "sticker," who stands 
in a pool of blood; thence run to the scalding trough, dropped in, 
passed through it, and on to the revolving scraper, which removes 
the hair in twelve seconds; thence put through the hands of the 
finishers, who remove all the remaining hair; then swung up, dis- 
emboweled, beheaded, and shoved along, until they are divided, 
sent to the chill room, where they remain twenty-four hours, after 
which they are cut up into hams, shoulders, sides, etc., dropped 
again to the lower floor, where it is salted and stacked, ready for 
the packers. We timed one hog and were astonished to find that 
in six minutes from the time it left the sticker it was lying on the 
table with the bristles removed. In six seconds it was disem- 
boweled. It is truly astonishing with what rapidity the work is 
done. The meat is shipped over the world, and is prepared to suit 
special markets; hams for London being trimmed in a particular 
manner to suit the English customers. 

There were other points of interest visited, as the Water Works, 
Lincoln Park, and the various drives, with a description of which 
I will not worry your readers. 

On Tuesday morning, now made famous in the lives of many, 
nearly three hundred tourists gathered at the depot of the Chicago 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 11 

and Northwestern railroad, where a special train of nine Pullman 
cars and one day coach, including baggage cars, was in waiting. A 
little after ten o'clock "all aboard" was shouted, and our train sped 
westward at the rate of over thirty miles an hour. We passed 
through the great and fertile State of Illinois, crossed the Missis- 
sippi, and by evening reached Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the city 
turned out, with brass band, to give us a cordial reception. The 
next morning we reached Council Bluffs, where several hours were 
consumed in re-checking and weighing baggage, exchanging our 
tickets for those of the Union Pacific and making final preparations 
for the journey. 

The Chicago and Northwestern railroad is one of the most direct 
routes from Chicago to Omaha. The road bed is smooth, stone 
ballast, and the management the very best. It passes through the 
most fertile part of Illinois and Iowa, as is evidenced by the splen- 
didly cultivated farms, the large towns, and the excellent buildings. 
We have never gone over a better road. Our train made special 
time and reached Council Bluffs several hours in advance of the 
time 

At Council Bluffs we were detained half a day by the Union Pa- 
cific railroad. The Union Pacific has a monopoly of the railroad 
business '"'across the continent," and does just as it pleases. When • 
will Congress help the competing road, as it did this? It should 
certainly do so, for the interests of trade and travel demand it. 

A few of us were enabled to cross the Missouri in advance of the 
excursion train, and spend several hours in Omaha. Omaha claims 
a population of 23,000, and there is considerable rivalry between it 
and Council Bluffs. We were fortunate enough to fall into the 
hands of the "local" of the News, to whom we are obliged for see- 
ing much more of the city than we otherwise would have. 
The United States government has a fine building in which are the 
post office, the court room, and the various government offices. The 
school buildings, like those of other western towns, are very hand- 
some, and from the grounds and observatory of the high school 
building you get a fine view of the city and the surrounding coun- 



12 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

try. The mayor, whom all found to be most gentlemanly, and other 
dignitaries, were down when our excursion train arrived, and gave 
us an informal reception. On our train we find a number of prom- 
inent men, and are here joined by Dr. Vincent and Joseph Cook. 

After a tiresome delay we are off, and our next two days will be 
spent on wheels. After leaving Omaha, the company in each car 
was requested to appoint one of their number as their representative, 
and thus a committee was constituted to attend to all the details of 
the excursion. 

The following persons compose that committee: Rev. J. H. Vin- 
cent, D.D., Chairman, Plainfield, N. J.; Rev. Geo. A. Peltz, D.D., 
Secretary, Jamestown, N. Y. ; Stephen Partridge, Car 0, St. Louis, 
Mo.; Rev. W. W. Hammond, Car 1, Detroit, Mich.; S. C. Bever, 
Esq., Car 2, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; E. W. Page, Esq., Car 3, New 
York; Ed. S. Wagoner, Esq., Car 4, Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Rev. J. 
M. Linn, Car 5, Winnebago, 111.; J. H. Redsecker, Car 6, Lebanon, 
Pa.; Nathaniel Hills, Esq., Day Car, Brighton, 111.; Rev. Sheldon 
Jackson, D.D., Car 7. Denver, Col.; Rev L. H. Trowbridge, D.D., 
Car 8, Detroit, Mich. 

A daily paper was also issued, edited by Rev. Dr. Trowbridge 
and your correspondent. It was a novel paper and published in a 
novel way. As we had no press and type, each edition was in 
manuscript, and was read in each car. It contained the news from 
the various cars, personal paragraphs of the Pacific pilgrims, tele- 
graphic, congressional, and general news, contributions, original 
poetry, and advertisements of lost and found. 

The following is the name and style of the paper: 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 13 



THE PACIFIC EXCURSIONIST. 



s^-rrBXjisnEX) 3D.^iXiTr oar the :p. i. e. I'la-A.iitT. 



Motto: For here we have no continuing city. Heb. 13:14. 



THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1879. 

A choir was also organized, under the leadership of Rev. George 
A. Ford, of Ramapo, N. Y., and furnished us with excellent sing- 
ing. Morning and evening services were held in each car, addresses 
were delivered, and lessons drawn from Bible journeys. 

We are now in Nebraska. The first view of the Platte Valley 
is an impressive one. Stretching away for miles and miles, as 
far as the eye can reach, is a treeless, trackless plain, smooth 
and green as a well-kept lawn. The Platte river is a fine, 
broad stream, but treacherous, we are told, as it is beautiful. It is 
of very shallow depth, and yet let a stranger attempt to cross it and 
he is apt to get into difficulty among its dangerous sands. Our train 
hurries along, but still the plains are before and around us, and 
when night comes on we are attracted by a prairie fire. It is im-« 
possible to describe it. Away off, miles from us, the flames spread 
out, increasing as they go, while large columns of smoke ascend 
heavenward. It was a most beautiful sight. Ranches, and towns 
of magnificent distances and great expectations, are all unconsciously 
passed, and morning still finds us on the prairie — at Sidney, a town 
of importance, and where we take breakfast. Sidney is the county 
seat of Cheyenne county, and contains about 1,500 people. From 
this point the stages start out for the Black Hills, and here the pio- 
neer can purchase everything he wants in the way of supplies for 
the Hills. The distance to the Black Hills is 270 miles, and a daily 
stage takes passengers to Deadwood for $50 in winter, and less in 
summer. At this point the excursionists were delightfully enter- 
tained with a few songs by the Hutchinson Family. 



14 ACR088 THE CONTINENT. 

From Sidney to Cheyenne, the next town of importance, is 102 
miles. "We have been gradually ascending, and at Cheyenne are 
6,014 feet above the sea level. The town claims a population of 
6,000 people. Their paper had an editorial cordially welcoming the 
tourists, and the people were out in holiday attire to greet us. As 
our train stopped quite a while, we had an opportunity of seeing a 
portion of the town. Rude frame houses are giving way to fine 
brick buildings, lawlessness has been stamped out, and quiet and 
order now reign supreme. We here learn how deceptive the dis- 
tances are. The fort, which some of our party supposed to be a 
mile away, was actually three miles distant. At Sherman we are 
on the summit of the mountain, 8,242 feet above the sea. Here two 
of our engines are detached, and we are left with one to speed down 
the other side. When we awoke the next morning the ground was 
covered with snow, and the feathery flakes were still coming down 
gently. 

One of our poets thus describes the scene : 

" This morning we have the beautiful snow, 
Coming down gently as onward we go, 
Covering the car tops and covering the trees, 
And causing us all to shiver and freeze. 
And would you believe it, the telegraph posts 
Looked in at the windows, 'like tall sheeted ghosts !' " 

We are now in the Rocky Mountains, and away off sixty miles in 
the distance is Long's Peak, plainly visible, its summit capped M^ith 
snow. At Rock Springs, a small watering station in the mountains, 
where many of the houses are built in the side of the hill and roofed 
with dirt, we had one of the most beautiful receptions on the road. 
They came, not with brass band and speeches, but a little Sunday- 
school, which gathers in this mountain village, came with banners 
to meet us, extending a hearty welcome "to our eastern friends." 
Several of our distinguished gentlemen were presented with bou- 
quets of beautiful mountain flowers. At Evanston we are joined 
by a committee of citizens from Ogden, and thence our way to this 
place is through some of the grandest scenery on the route. The 
mountains are thousands of feet in height, and our train bowls 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 15 



along at the rate of thirty miles an hour, passing Castle Rock, a 
long line of sandstone bluffs which are worn by wind and rain until 
they have the appearance of old feudal castles. We are now in 
Echo Canyon, made famous by the Mormons in 1859. A thousand 
feet above the bed of the canyon, can be seen the fortifications 
erected by the Mormons for the purpose of defending themselves 
against Johnson's army. We pass Devil's Slide, two parallel walls 
of perpendicular rock, from twenty-five to fifty feet in height, ex- 
tending from the base to the top of the mountain. It is one of the 
most wonderful of rock formations. We saw nothing of the devil 
for he wasn't there. 

We sped past the thousand-mile tree, the only tree visible, and 
which stands just one thousand miles west of Omaha. Thence our 
train hurries us into a beautiful little valley in which is the town of 
Weber. Here we see the mystic letters, "Z. C. M. I.," which, in 
Mormon rendering, mean "Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institu- 
tion." 

Devil's Gate is the next place of interest passed. Here the moun- 
tains rise almost perpendicular to an extreme height. The pass is 
very narrow and presents a wild appearance. Weber river is con- 
fined to a very narrow channel, and goes rushing, roaring and seeth- 
ing over the rocks below, 'flie bridge is fifty feet above the stream. 
The lofty mountains, the rushing waters, and the grand weird* 
scenery, are objects of interest to the traveler which will not soon 
be ^forgotten. We have been running down the mountain from 
Evanston, and at last enter Ogden, where we remain over night 
and then go to Salt Lake City. 

The people of Ogden were out en masse to give us a welcome. 
Large pavilions were erected and supper was waiting. Preceded 
by a brass band, the tourists were escorted to the pavilion, when 
Gov. Emery, on behalf of the people, extended a cordial welcome, 
as follows : 

'^Ladies and Oentlemen — On behalf of the people of Utah I ex- 
tend to you a cordial greeting to our Territory. We are always 
pleased to meet our friends from the east to the west, and give them 



16 ACBOSS THE CONTINENT. 

such advantages to witness our scenery, our civilization and our 
society as they may require. I understand that many of you go to 
California, attracted, no doubt, by the glowing accounts which you 
have read and heard of the splendid climate and the gorgeous 
scenery there. Permit me to state, ladies and gentlemen, that here 
in Utah we have scenery rivaling that of the famed Yosemite; we 
have attractions such as you must see to appreciate. And before 
going, I would advise that you enjoy a bath in the waters of the 
great Salt Lake. These waters contain some twenty -five per cent, 
of pure salt. After a brief encounter with the briny waves anyone 
is enabled to float upon them with but very little exertion. The 
water also contains enough soda to make a bath healthful and in- 
vigorating. A great deal has been said about the climate of Cali- 
fornia, but here, I venture to say, we have as fine a climate as you 
will find in the country. And I think we have finer skies than can 
be found elsewhere in the world, excepting Italy and Southern 
California. But I am sure you must be better prepared and will re- 
ceive in a more welcome manner the repast now before you than 
anything in the way of speech-making. I again extend a hearty 
welcome." (Applause.) 

At the conclusion of the Governor's address, Dr. Vincent replied 
in the following language : 

''Ladies and Gentlemen— VQYmXi me to express thanks as a rep- 
resentative of the Pacific excursionists, for the generous words of wel- 
come we have heard and this repast which is before us. We come 
as citizens of the United States, loyal to our country and fiiithful to 
the ideas of Christianity inculcated by the Bible — the fountain of 
Christianity. Our object is and has been to further the cause of 
Sunday-schools in this country. We believe in preparing the minds 
of our youth by wholesome teachings, that they may have the ad- 
vantages of correct, Christian-like principles to guide them in after 
life. We also desire to inculcate a sentiment of harmony and, I 
may say, entire catholicity throughout our dominions such as will 
lead to a better understanding and a more perfect union of ideas 
among those who aim at Christianity pure and simple . While faith- 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 17 

ful to our God we are faithful to the laws of our country, and are always 
pleased to meet with those who are in accord with us on those ques- 
tions. I realize fully that most of our party, like myself, desire 
food for the body rather than food for the mind; therefore I will not 
prolong m}'- remarks. I again thank you." 

Mr. Joseph Stanford, representing Ogden city, then appeared and 
said: 

"Ladies and Gentlemen — I very much regret, through indisposition 
and family affliction, the absence on this occasion of the mayor, the 
Hon. Lester J. Herrick. At the same time, I feel much gratified in 
the honor conferred in extending to you in his behalf, and in behalf 
of the members of the common council of Ogden city, a cordial and 
hearty welcome. 

"Our young, yet growing and prosperous city, containing only 
about 8,000 inhabitants, may not possess for you so many charms or 
so much to draw forth expressions of praise and admiration as those 
much older and more populous cities of the east through which 
you have passed en route to these mountain fastnesses. We have no 
public buildings or edifices exhibiting much if any display of archi- 
tectural design or skilled artistic and mechanical ability. No pub- 
lic parks, museums and a hundred other institutions of profit and 
amusement peculiar to cities in the east. Our adornments and 
places of interest are those only which nature has provided — our 
broad and fertile valleys, our canyons, our mountain passes, our 
lakes, rivers and springs, the latter of varied temperatures of heat 
and mineral properties. We must, however, with due and becom- 
ing modesty, claim that our ci^y possesses all the elements, facilities 
and surroundings, necessary to constitute her in time a great com- 
mercial centre. 

"Ogden is the junction city of the great highway across the con- 
tinent — the Atlantic and Pacific railroads, also of the Utah Central 
and Southern and the Utah and Northern railroads. Although our 
city is small, we claim that its inhabitants are an industrious, healthy, 
peaceful, happy and consequently a prosperous people, and we trust 
you will find your brief sojourn in our midst to be both pleasant 



18 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

and profitable; and notwithstanding the controlling influence is 
directly or indirectly exercised by the old settlers or the dominant 
party, generally designated as "Mormons." you will find liberty, 
freedom and protection extended to all creeds, classes and profes- 
sions. And gentlemen, as you are particularly interested in the re- 
ligious, moral and intellectual welfare of the rising generation, I am 
happy to be in a position to state that Ogden is not lacking in her 
duty in these important matters, for besides her ten day-schools, 
there are seven Sabbath-schools, with an average attendance of 
eight hundred scholars. 

"We further hope that your visit among us will be made a source 
of information and profit, not onl}^ as regards our mineral, commer- 
cial and agricultural interests and prospects, but that our political, 
social and moral status maybe correctly understood, and represented 
by you when you shall have passed from our midst. I again, ladies 
and gentlemen, extend to you, one and all, a most hearty and cor- 
dial welcome." (Applause.) 

Dr. Peltz then came forward and responded, as follows: 

^'Ladies and Gentlemen — I return you our sincere thanks for the 
kind words which have been spoken and the cordial reception given 
us. We are glad for the showing you make in your secular and 
religious schools. You have spoken of the absence of public build- 
ings or edifices displaying architectural design, or artistic ability; 
but God has put around your city some of his most beautiful works. 
God's grandeur in nature is excelled only by his grandeur in char- 
acter. As Sunday-school .teachers we are laboring to put grandeur 
into the character and lives of those whom we are teaching. I again 
thank you for your generous welcome, and may God bless you." 

The delegates were then invited to be seated, and were served 
with an excellent supper, prepared by Messrs. Keenej' & Ziegler, 
proprietors of the Keeney House. They are from Cumberland 
county. Pa., and keep an excellent hotel. The supper was in the 
interest of one of the local churches. 

The next morning a number of the tourists went to see Ogden 
Canyon, while the majority left on the train for Salt Lake City. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 19 

Ogden Canyon is worth a visit. Tlie Ogdeu river forms a series 
of cascades and falls; the scenery is wild; the walls of the canyon 
are hundreds of feet in height; and the sulphur and hot springs are 
wonders in nature. 

We returned from the canyon in time to catch the afternoon train 
for Salt Lake City, which we reach in the evening, and will attempt 
to describe in a future letter. 



NUMBER THREE. 

salt lake city— mormon sunday-school— the taber- 
nacle—joseph smith— mormon religion. 

San Francisco, June 16, 1879. 

The approach to Salt Lake City is through a delightful country. A 
few miles from Ogden we catch a view of the great Salt Lake, 
shining like a mirror in the afternoon sun. On our left are high 
towering mountains, their summits capped with snow, while in the 
valley are the homes of the Mormon farmers who are busy cultivat- 
ing the soil. Within a few mile« of the city we pass the Hot 
Springs, and the train stops so that we may have an opportunity of 
stepping off and seeing them. The water pours out from the hill 
in a large stream, and is so hot that an egg can be boiled in it in a 
few minutes. It is strongly sulphurous, and leaves a permanent 
stain on white garments. 

Salt Lake City is one of the most beautiful cities it has been our 
privilege to see, and contains a population of about 20,000, three- 
fourths of whom are Mormons. It was our good fortune to stop at 
the Continental Hotel, formerly kept by a Mormon, but now man- 
aged by Gr. L. Erb, a Lancaster county Dutchman, who also runs 
the Walker House. They are the finest hotels in the city. The 



20 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

Continental lias a fine veranda, and is surrounded by beautiful 
trees, making it a most delightful place. 

The streets of Salt Lake City are each one hundred feet wide, the 
pavements sixteen feet, making the streets, from house to house, 
132 feet wide. The houses outside tl^e business centres are sur- 
rounded by large yards, filled with trees, shrubbery and flowers. 
At the time of our visit (June 1st), the roses were in full bloom, and 
added greatly to the beauty of the place. 

The city is irrigated, the water for this purpose being brought 
from a canyon some three miles distant and conveyed throughout 
the city in ditches. The cr3^stal flood pours down the sides of the 
streets, and is as clean and pure as wlien it leaves its home in the 
mountains. Arrangements are made for running the water into the 
yards, and is regulated by law, so that each inhabitant may have 
his proportionate share. The water for drinking and other pur- 
poses is brought from the same canyon, and is of most excellent 
quality. Whatever Brigham Young may have been, and however 
much we may condemn him for his polygamous views, he certainly 
deserves great credit for making this barren wilderness bloom and 
blossom as the rose. - 

Of course, in Salt Lake City, the great thing to see is the Mormon 
worship, and so we spent Sunday in seeing this as thoroughly as we 
could. 

The Deseret News, the Mormon daily, in its Saturday's issue gave 
a cordial welcome to the excursionists, and the people generally 
were exceedingly clever and communicative. 

The city is divided into twenty-one wards, each presided over by 
a bishop. In each ward there is a school-house, in which morning 
and evening services and Sunday-school is held. In the afternoon 
service is held in the tabernacle where they all congregate. 

At the ward school which we attended, the services were opened 
by singing a song of welcome, for there were a number of tourists 
present. The bishop led in prayer, and prayed for the strangers in 
the gates, that they might comprehend the light by which they were 
surrounded. The minutes of the previous session were read and 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 21 

approved, the children as well as the adults having the right to 
vote. The school was then formally opened, the different classes 
directed what was to be studied, when the smaller children with- 
drew to one of the side rooms, the intermediate class to another, 
and the advanced class remaining. By special invitation, Rev. Dr. 
Trowbridge and your correspondent addressed the children. After 
the study of the lesson the schools assembled in the main room 
where all partook of the communion. Water, however, is used in- 
stead of wine, and the smallest child as well as the gray haired sire 
partakes of it. After this they desired to hear from the tourists, 
when several short speeches were made by some of the persons 
present. 

In the afternoon, worship w\as held in the great tabernacle which 
will hold, they claim, 14,000 persons. It is 250 feet long by 150 
wide. The roof is supported by forty-six columns of cut sandstone, 
the spaces between them being used for windows and doorways. 
From these walls the roof springs in an unbroken arch, forming, it 
is said, the largest self-sustaining roof on the continent, except the 
Grand Union Depot in New York. The ceiling of the roof is sixty- 
five feet from the floor. The ceiling was festooned with evergreens, 
while a large chandelier of evergreens and artificial flowers was 
suspended from the ceiling. The organ, which is in the rear of the 
pulpit, is one of the largest in the country, and was built by them- 
selves. There are three pulpits immediately in the rear of, and 
raised from two to three feet above each other. The choir is seated 
in the rear of the pulpits, and below and around the pulpits are the 
seats for the dignitaries of the church. The singing is splendid, 
the choir being composed of probably seventy-five males and 
females, with a leader who seems to thoroughly understand his 
business. 

The bread and water are passed around by the deacons, who pro- 
ceed noislessly, during which time is the preaching. We had four 
addresses delivered with much earnestness, and intended specially 
for the Gentiles. It was the merest trash, presented with a great 
deal of seeming earnestness, each speaker taking his cue from the first, 



23 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

and giving us the same stuff in a different form. Reserved seats 
had been provided for the excursionists, and so we had a good op- 
portunity of seeing and observing. We did not see one handsome 
female among all the Mormon women. There are some intelligent 
looking men and women among them, but the majority of women 
look degraded, and devoid of intelligence; and the same applies to 
the hard laboring class of men. There were fully 8,000 persons 
present in the tabernacle, as it was the service of the day. 

Brigham Young owned a vast estate. His property covers entire 
blocks in the most eligible portion of the city, showing that while 
he took care of Zion, he had an eye to his own interests. Amelia 
Palace, a magnificent residence commenced by Brigham for Ame- 
lia, his favorite wife, is not yet completed. When finished it will be 
occupied by President Taylor, as Amelia is building herself a 
smaller residence. 

Within three miles of the city is Camp Douglass, where ar6 sta- 
tioned some of the U. S. troops, and from which point you have a 
fine view of the city and surrounding country. Salt Lake City 
does a large business, being a point from which many towns and 
stations in the surrounding Territories get their supplies. "Zion's 
Co-operative Mercantile Institution," organized in 1868, occupies 
the largest building in the city and carries goods of all descriptions. 
Through the kindness of the managing editor of their Sunday-school 
publications we were shown through the establishment. The 
building cost $175,000. Walker Bros, have the largest Gentile es- 
tablishment in the city and do a large business. The annual sales 
of these two establishments, we are informed, exceed $5,000,000 a 
year. 

On Sunday evening we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. John- 
son, who came over with Brigham Young in 1847, and is one of the 
oldest members of the Church. He met a number of us for a friend- 
ly interchange of views, and to answer such questions as we might 
wish to ask. He told us that when Joseph Smith was between four- 
teen and fifteen years of age he professed religion at a revival meet- 
ing in Ontario county, N. Y. There was great quarreling among 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 23 

the different churches as to which should get the converts, and this 
gave him great distraction of mind. He went into the woods to 
pray, asking God to teach him the true religion. The heavens were 
opened and two personages stood before him, and one pointing to 
the other said, "This is my beloved son, hear ye him." He was 
told the religious societies were all teaching incorrect doctrines, and 
he must join none of them. On the night of the 21st of September, 
1823, the angel Moroni appeared to him three times, and told him 
that there was a record written on gold plates giving an account of 
the ancient inhabitants of America and God's dealing with them, 
deposited in a particular place in the earth. "With the record were 
two stones set in silver bows, called the Urim and Thummin, by 
which he would be enabled to translate the writing on the plates. 
The angel directed him to tell his fiither, who advised him to obey 
the direction, as it was from God. He accordingly went to the 
place, and, with a crowbar, pried off the stone, saw the plates, but 
by some indiscreetness on his part he Avas not permitted to touch 
them. After four years, spent in prayer, the angel told him he could 
get the plates. On the 22d of September, 1827, they were placed in 
his hands. Thej^ were written in the Reformed Egyptian, a lan- 
guage not known to the earth; but by the use of the Urim and 
Thummin .Joseph was enabled to make a translation of that portion 
which was unsealed. The translation was published in 183'\ and 
called the Book of Mormon. The plates, which after the translation 
were returned to the angel, were about eight inches long, seven 
inches wide, and a little thinner than ordinary tin. 

On the 6th of April, 1830, the first clrtirch was organized, with six 
members. A year after, they settled in Ohio, and the same year 
moved to Independence, Mo., from which place they were driven 
in 1833, and in 1839 they settled and built Nauvoo, 111., from whence 
they were driven in 1846, and made their journey overland to the 
present city of Salt Lake. 

This is the Mormon side. Let us now look at the facts from the 
other side. The Rev. Solomon Spaulding, who graduated at Dart- 
mouth College in 1785, moved to Ohio early in the present century. 



24 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



He gathered from legends and traditions a quantity of material and 
wrote a story, after the manner of Bible stories. This was taken to 
Pittsburg to be printed; the copy was surreptitiously stolen by Sid- 
ney Rigdon, and, passing into the hands ot Joseph Smith, was used 
by him and a few others for the purpose of playing upon the credu- 
lity of the people. It was passed off as a new revelation from 
heaven, and called the Book of Mormon. It pretends to give an 
account of two tribes of Jews — the Jaredites, who went westward 
after the building of the Tower of Babel. The Indians of North 
America are the descendants of these tribes, according to the Book 
of Mormon. Mr. Johnson did not tell us that Smith and Rigdon 
ran away from Ohio to escape the officers of the law. He failed 
also to tell us that they confiscated the property of their neighbors 
in Missouri and Illinois, and appropriated it to their own use. and 
for this the people rose up against them and drove them out. These 
things were forgotten when he gave us a history of Mormonism. 

The Mormon Church believes in the Bible and the Book of IVIor- 
mon. It belicA^es in the trinity as three distinct persons. It has 
four ordinances: Faith in Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion 
and for remission of sin, and laying on of hands for the gift of the 
Holy Ghost. They believe that Jesus will return to earth and es- 
tablish a New Jerusalem in Jackson county, Missouri. As, accord- 
ing to their faith, Christ is going to reign on the earth, they, there- 
fore, are endeavoring to make their places as handsome as possible, 
and build temples for him. They are now erecting a new temple 
which will cost several millions of dollars. 

Aside from their loathsome polygamy, which is a blot on our 
civilization, and degrading especially to the women, they are quite 
a pleasant people, and treated us with very great consideration. 

There are quite a number of apostate Mormons in Salt Lake 
City. They have withdrawn from the Church, and those who had 
more than one wife have provided for the support of the others and 
their children, and are living now with but one, and she the lawful 
one. 

Services were held in the Protestant churches. Dr. Vincent 
preached in the morning, and Joseph Cook lectured in the evening. 



A CM OSS THE GONTmENT. 35 

He gave a prelude on Mormoaism, in which lie tore the mask from 
their system, and exposed it in all its loathsomeness. He gave 
Mormonism a terrible excoriation, and set the leaders and editors 
howling and cursing, and delighted the Gentiles, who are exposed 
to much persecution and who could not live there were it not for 
the power of the Federal arm. 

But my letter has already grown too long. Our journey west- 
ward, from Salt Lake, and the Yosemite, will be sent later. 



NUMBER FOUR. 

SALT LAKE TO OGDEN— ELKO— WINNEMUCCA— HUMBOLDT— 

TKUCKEE— S AC KAMENTO— MADEKA— BEKKY 

TESTIMONIAL— SO UVENIEK. 

San Francisco, June 17, 1879. 

We left Salt Lake City on Monday afternoon and Ogden the same 
evening. At the latter place we took the cars of the Central Pa- 
cific railroad for California, the Union Pacific terminating at Ogden. 
The road runs along Salt Lake for some distance giving us a good 
view of this great inland sea. When we awoke the next morning 
we were in the State of Nevada, two hundred miles west of Ogden. 
We were delayed during the night by a freight train, so that we did 
not reach Elko, the breakfast station, until nearly noon. Need I 
say we were hungry? 

Elko is the county seat of Elko county, and has a population, it 
is said, of 1,200. Of course it is a city. What in the east is called 
a village, is here a city. It was Bayard Tciylor, I believe, who 
aptly said, that in the west they drive down a stake, mark out a 
street, and call the place a city. Elko City, then,— for we must con- 
form to the habits of the country — does not present many attractions 
for the tourist. It may have some fine public buildings and private 



26 A on 088 THE CONTINENT. 

residences, but we failed to see them. The State University, cost- 
ing $30,000, is located here, but we did not see the buildings. The 
city, however, has a very unpretentious appearance, and leads one 
to believe that it is yet in its swaddling clothes. 

There were quite a number of the Shoshone Indians at the sta- 
tion. Some of them, men and women, were sitting oa the ground 
around a blanket playing cards for money. They are great gam- 
blers, I am told. I presume they are civilized. They are a squalid 
looking lot of individuals, and you would have to draw on your 
imagination immensely, if you were to work yourself into any sort 
of enthusiasm over these " noble red men of the forest." Poor Lo! 
He needs to be honestly dealt with by the government, whose ward 
he is, taught some industrial occupation, missionaries to teach him 
the gospel, and in addition to all these, plenty of good soap and 
water. 

We now have the Humboldt river and mountains in sight, ^ and 
the scenery is varied and beautiful. Palisade is a station in the 
mountains, and the junction of the Eureka and Palisade railroad. 
You can see large quantities of base bullion pigs piled up at the 
station awaiting shipment. It is brought from the Eureka smelting 
works. Over 38,000,000 pounds of crude bullion was transported 
over the road during the year 1878. 

When we reached Battle Mountain we found a Sunday-school 
drawn up in line —not of battle but of greeting — in front of the 
station. They greeted us with a song, after which Dr. Vincent 
addressed them. Sunday-school papers and tracts were distributed, 
the engine's shrill whistle shrieked a chorus, and we mounted the 
cars and were off. 

In the afternoon we stopped at Winnemucca The citizens were 
out en masse and gave us a grand reception. A brass band dis- 
coursed some excellent music, after which Rev. J. R. Berry, our 
master of transportation, was called on for a speech. He thanked 
them for the reception, and after a few pleasant words of greeting, 
introduced Dr. Vincent. He spoke of the reception, and of the 
excursion, and said it was the purpose of the Sunday-school to train 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 27 

the boys and girls to love whatsoever things are pure, honest, just 
and true, and to trample under foot, with righteous vengeance what- 
ever is low, and base and sinful. He said he did not want to make 
a speech. There was a gentleman present whom he wanted them 
to hear. He was an excellent man. The only bad thing about him 
is, he is a Baptist. He introduced Rev. Dr. Peltz, amid the pro- 
longed cheers of the people. 

Dr. Peltz said he was pleased to meet them. During the war for 
the suppression of the rebellion we had two kinds of forces, — the 
army M^hich fought on the land, and the navy which fought on the 
water. Both branches of the service did well, each contributing 
its share toward the grand result, and both fighting under the same 
old flag. Now, he said, my friend Dr. Vincent belongs to the 
army, the land forces, and I belong to the navy, but we are both 
fighting for the same end and under the same flag, — the banner of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

At the conclusion of Dr. Peltz's remarks, Judge Berry, of Win- 
nemucca, was called out. He said a few words congratulatory of 
the excursion, and the pleasure they always felt in meeting friends 
from the east. 

The reception was a most enjoyable aftair, and at its conclusion 
our train moved off to the musical strains of the band. 

Forty miles from Winnemucca we come to Humboldt, on the 
edge of the great desert of Nevada. Everything has a look of utter 
desolation, except at the station. Here all is bright and green and 
cheerful looking. In front of the hotel is a fountain, while the 
trees and grass have a peculiar freshness. We stopped here about 
an hour and had .supper, after which Mr. Cook gave us a short 
speech. He is an intellectual giant, and when he speaks you are 
sure to learn something. He told us of the greatness of our coun- 
try; of the vast extent of territory comprising it; of the millions it 
was capable of furnishing with homes and food; and of the tremen- 
dous stretch from its eastern to its most western limit, so that San 
Francisco is really about midway between the two. He was round- 
ly applauded at the close of his remarks. 



28 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

Humboldt demonstrates the fact that these plains can be made 
productive by irrigation. Thirty miles north of the station are 
sulphur mines which produce sulphur in a nearly pure state. The 
specimens which I secured are very fine. It is brought to the rail- 
road in wagons, and thence shipped to San Francisco where it is 
refined and sent to the markets of the world. 

Our route now lay across this alkali desert. The air is hot. We 
are obliged to keep windows and doors closed, and even then the 
fine dry sand sifted in through the crevices, rendering travel exceed- 
ingly unpleasant, and the cars stifling. One young lady in our car 
gasped for breath, called for water, and declared she would die be- 
fore morning. " She couldn't live through it. She would suffocate." 
She didn't suffocate. She didn't die. The next day when we were 
over the plains she had forgotten all about it, and was as gay as 
usual. 

When we awoke the next morning we were among the Sierra 
Nevada mountains, and they really are mountains, from 6,000 to 
10,000 feet high. Between this and Sacramento we pass through 
some of the finest scenery along the route. Our road runs along 
the Truckee river which has some rapids as fine as you will see 
anywhere. I think they are fully as magnificent as those above the 
Whirlpool at Niagara, but of course there is not the volume of 
water. The morning is cool, the air bracing, and we find overcoats 
and wraps none too heavy. 

We soon reach Truckee, where w^e stop. It is not much of a — 
city, — I almost forgot, —but in its early days enjoyed an unenviable 
reputation. A gentleman familiar with its early history told us that 
in early times many a man was buried here with his boots on, having 
been killed over the gaming table, and carried away and buried 
without further ceremony. The principal street is near the railroad, 
and of the three dozen houses, nineteen I think are drinking 
saloons. 

After leaving Truckee we begin the ascent of the mountain. Be- 
fore reaching the summit we pass over the "mule-shoe," a curve 
which for extent surpasses the famous horse-shoe curve on the 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 29 

Pennsjivania railroad. We also pass through miles of snow-sheds, 
and catch a glimpse of Donner Lake, a splendid sheet of water in 
which the high mountains are beautifully photographed. The old 
emigrant road used to lead along this lake. It was here that Mr. 
Donner and some of his party perished in the winter of 1846. They 
were snowed up and their cattle stampeded. When the emigrants 
were found the following spring, they were dead. A German who 
was with them was found alive, was crazy, and had eaten a portion 
of the dead bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Donner. He was cared for, and 
when reason returned he was accused of having killed them. He 
stoutly protested his innocence. The matter remains a mystery. 

But our train has been going on while we have stopped to talk 
about the Donner Lake mystery. We reach the summit, and stop 
in the snow shed. Some of the party have a most delightful time 
snow-balling each other on the 4th of June. There is a hotel on 
the summit, and in a box, covered with a cloth, was quite an ornitho- 
logical curiosity, — a red bat weighing two pounds. Many whose 
curiosity was excited raised the cover only to see a brick-bat sus- 
pended by a cord. They retired amid the audible smiles of those 
who had been there before. 

We now begin the descent of the mountain and pass a number of 
places with classical names, as Dutch Flat, You Bet, Red Dog, and 
the like, and reach Gold Run, a mining town, where we got our 
first sight of hydraulic mining. The water is brought for miles in 
flumes along the mountain side and over chasms, and forced through 
pipes against the sides of the mountains. The gravel and stones 
are washed away and passing through sluices is held long enough 
so as to permit the gold to settle, which is then collected. Near 
Gold Run the top of the mountain is entirely washed away. 

We have seen magnificent scenery at various points along the 
route, but Cape Horn, which we now approach, surpasses every- 
thing we have before seen. Before reaching it we catch a glimpse, 
on our left, of the American river, foaming and rushing along in a 
narrow mountain-gorge, nearly two thousand feet below us. Our 
train rushes along while every eye is strained to take in all the 



30 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

scenery. At last we reach Cape Horn, and the train stops. It is 
perfectly sublime! On our right the mountain rises almost vertically 
for thousands of feet, while on our left is an almost perpendicular 
descent of twentj^-five hundred feet. We look up to the mountain 
top almost reaching to cloud-land, and then down, down, into the 
little valley, and see the river, like a thread of silver, dashing along 
over its rocky bed; the trees become diminutive shrubs, and the 
people in the fields below as mere human specks on the surface. It 
is the grandest view on the whole route. "All aboard " rings along 
the line, and we are brought to realize that we are not in won- 
derland, and must get aboard if we want to continue the ex- 
cursion. 

We bound down the mountain, reach Colfax, and after stopping 
long enough to dine, start for Sacramento, which we reach about 
three o'clock. 

Need I tell you Sacramento is the capital of the State; that it is 
built on the Sacramento river; that it contains thousands of people; 
that it is a place of very considerable business enterprise; that it has 
been burnt out, and washed out several times, and each time has 
risen like a Phoenix and put on new strength ? You know these 
things. You know, too, that in order to guard against a flood, after 
they found levees would not do, they have raised the city. So I'll 
not stop to tell you anything of its history. We have pleasant re- 
collections of Sacramento, for didn't the good Sunday-school people 
meet us at the train; didn't they take us to the State House in car- 
riages, omnibuses and street cars, and didn't they give us a splen- 
did reception? Of course they did, and we say, God bless the Sun- 
day-school people of Sacramento. 

It was a most enjoyable affair. The reception was held in the 
Senate Chamber. As we entered we were presented with hand- 
some bouquets. After we were seated, the pupils of the high-school 
sang a song of greeting, and then Rev. Dr. Bentley and Secretary- 
of-State Beck made addresses of welcome, to which Rev. Dr. Vin- 
cent and Rev. Joseph Cook responded. Then we partook of refresh- 
ments furnished by the ladies of the city, and had more bouquets 
presented us as we left. We shall not forget Sacramento! 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 31 

Many of our tourists left us here, going direct to San Francisco 
via Vallejo, while about two hundred of us continued our journey 
toward Stockton, where some got off to take the Big Oak Flat route 
into the valley. The rest of us went to Latlirop, and thence to 
Merced, where we again dropped a number of cars and passengers, 
so that they might go into the valley by the Merced and Coulter- 
ville routes. The remainder went on to Madera, which we reached 
sometime in the night, and where we lay until morning, and were 
then waked to take the stages into the Yosemite. 

Our journey, thus far, had been most pleasant, and we felt it was 
due the Rev. J. R. Berry, our Master of Transportation, who had 
arranged for our trip Across the Continent, to make some suitable 
acknowledgment of our appreciation. The matter was presented 
to the tourists, who contributed liberally. The Executive Commit- 
tee, at a meeting, appointed Revs. Drs. Vincent, Jackson and Peltz 
a committee to purchase the testimonial. 

It was also ordered that a Souvenier of the excursion be prepared 
and published, taking the letters of Dr. Peltz, and some of the 
articles from The Pacific Excursionist, with the addresses of all the 
tourists. The editors of the paper, and Dr. Peltz, were appointed 
a committee to prepare it, and several hundred copies were sub- 
scribed for. Thus ended our excursion by rail. 

Our trip into the Yosemite Valley by stage will be described in 
our next. 



Note.— A handsome gold watch and chain were subsequently 
purchased and presented to Mr. Berry. It bears the inscription: 
''Presented to Rev. J. R. Berry by the Members of the P. I. E., 
J. H. Vincent, Sheldon Jackson, Geo. A. Peltz, Committee." 



32 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

NUMBER FIVE. 

the yosemitfi vai.l,ey— the routes— the assembly- 
addresses. 

San Francisco, June 20, 1879. 

The Yosemite Valley is about 160 miles from San Francisco, in a 
direct line. It is 88 miles from the nearest railroad station. For 
the benefit of your readers, let me say there are five stage routes 
leading into the valley, on all of which good stages are run. Two 
roads lead in by Stockton, on one of which you can go by the Cal- 
averas grove of big trees, making 148 miles of staging. By leaving 
out the Calaveras trees you have only 88 miles of staging, and pass 
through the Tuolumne grove. This is the shortest route into the 
valley, requiring but two days to reach San Francisco from the val- 
ley. The other routes are the Coulterville, which leaves Merced, 
passes through the Merced grove and has 88 miles of staging, re- 
quiring three days to reach San Francisco. The others are the 
Mariposa and Madera. The Mariposa starts from Merced, passes 
the Mariposa grant, within six miles of the Mariposa grove, and has 
97 miles of staging. The Madera is a new route, starting from Ma- 
dera, passes within six miles of the Fresno, and four miles of the 
Mariposa grove, and has 92 miles of staging. The latter roads bring 
you into the valley by Inspiration Point, from which you have a 
fine view of the valley. The best way is to go in by one and come 
out by the other, as each has its special advantages and attractions. 
The Calaveras trees are the highest and the grove the best kept, 
and are worthy of a visit. By any but the Stockton route you miss 
these. 

We went by the Madera, having been told it was the best. There 
can certainly be no better. The grade is easy, the road bed smooth, 
the scenery grand, the coaches new and elegant, and the drivers 
round the curves and dash up and down the grades with a care and 
skill that is truly surprising. However, since we have been there 
we say, not being interested in any of the routes, go in by one and 
come out by the other. The fare, by stage, is about twenty-five 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 33 



dollars one way. If you buy a round- trip ticket you are obliged to 
come out by the same road you went in, and thus lose a different 
kind of scenery, unless you can make an exchange of tickets in the 
valley, as we did. 

At six o'clock on Thursday morning, June 5th, the six-horse 
stage pulled up in front of the hotel. Sixteen passengers and bag- 
gage were quickly loaded, the driver cracked his whip, and we 
were off like a flying missile shot from a mortar. Jack rabbits with 
great long ears sit on their haunches and look at us in blank amaze- 
ment as we hurry by. Grey squirrels that burrow in the ground 
scamper off quickly to some safe retreat, while by their holes sit 
the owls, blinking and staring at us in the wisest manner possible, 
as if they had read the papers and knew all about the excursion. 
We change horses six times before reaching Clark's, where we stop 
for the night, and are glad to take a "shake down," and sleep 
soundly. 

The next morning we are off again for the valley, twenty-seven 
miles distant, which is reached shortly after noon. 

We get the first view of the valley from Inspiration Point, and as 
its grandeur and beauty is unfolded, every voice is hushed. Yo- 
semite, of which we had read and dreamed in our waking moments; 
Yosemite, with its towering crags and precipices, rearing their lofty 
summits heavenward nearly a mile; with its waterfalls nearly three 
thousand feet high, dashing and thundering in their fall, — lies 
spread out before us a vivid reality. 

We look down three thousand feet, and see the Merced river 
winding along through the valley, while across the mighty chasm, 
by the side of El Capitan, the Virgin's Tears Falls, sparkling 
like a silver ribbon, dash down the side of the mountain upon the 
rocks below, and its waters are mingled with those of the river. 
El Capitan, like a guardian of the valley, stands before us in all 
its grandeur, its lofty summit seeming to reach the skies. To your 
right are the Cathedral rocks, by the side of which the Bridal Veil 
falls over the mountain. As all this bursts upon your view, you 
are impressed with the magnitude of Yosemite. 



34 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

We had told our driver that we wanted to beat Dr. Vincent's 
stage into the Valley. We agreed to walk up the mountains, which 
we did, and we even promised to carry the mustangs if it were ne- 
cessary, which we didn't, and here we were, the first to get a sight 
of it. But at Inspiration Point we are yet more than five miles 
from the hotels. So starting down the trail, the driver gave the 
horses the rein and we flew around the zigzag curves, until our 
hair stood on end; we held our breath, and held on to the seats, and 
at last assured him we were not in so much of a hurry after all. But 
Henry's blood was up, and he was not to be stopped by anything. 
Away flew the ponies, past the Bridal Veil Falls, past El Capitan, 
with its granite walls grey with time, and the Cathedral rocks pointing 
their spires to the very clouds, and brought us up in front of Black's 
hotel, where we had an opportunity of washing off the dust of 
travel, and sitting down quietly in front of the magnificent Yosem- 
ite Falls. 

Who can describe Yosemite? We had read of it; we had seen 
pictures and imagined what it was like, but all of these give but 
the ftiintest idea of its grandeur. The valley is about nine miles 
long by about one and a half miles wide, through which flows the 
Merced river, a stream of clear, crystal water formed by the melt • 
ing snows on the high Sierras. The walls of the valley are of grey 
granite, nearly vertical, and from 3,000 to 6,150 feet in height above 
the valley, while the valley is 4,100 feet above the level of the sea. 
Yosemite Fall, the highest in the vallej^ though not the largest body 
of water, is 2,634 feet high, the first fall which the water makes be- 
ing 1,600 feet. You never tire of sitting and watching it as it 
plunges over the top of the mountain, sending up a noise like dis- 
tant thunder, and continually changing its form as it is blown about 
by the wind. Bridal Veil is much smaller, and is only 940 feet 
high, but its thin, gossamer-like form, swayed by the air, produces 
an efi^ect indescribably grand. 

There are trails up all the mountain sides; and as you stand in the 
valley and look up you wonder how it is possible to scale the sides 
of these bare walls; but man's ingenuity put to the test has accom- 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 35 



plislied the difficult task, and you can ride to the top without the 
least fear, for the horses are well trained, and step as carefully as a 
man. You can walk up if you wish, but' you will find it a hard 
climb, and feel the next day as one of the excursionists said he did, that 
you have a Sentinel Dome in one leg and a Glacier Point in the other. 
If you wish to ascend but one, the Glacier Point trail is the best, as 
you will get a fiuer and more extended view from this than from 
any other, except Cloud's Rest or South Dome, up the latter of 
which you have to work your way 700 feet by rope. From Glacier 
Point, 3, 200 feet high, you ascend to Sentinel Dome, a thousand 
feet higher, and have a magnificent view of the mountains — Starr 
King, the Lyall group, Hoffman and others, stretching away as far 
as the eye can reach. Here, on the Dome, you may gather flowers 
with one hand, while with the other you gather snow. It is a day's 
work, but you feel amply repaid, for as yon came up, at every turn 
of the zigzag path new features of the valley Avere opened before 
you, while men looked like the merest specks, fields seemed no 
larger than garden patches, and large trees like shrubs. 

You will want to visit Mirror Lake early in the morning, before 
sunrise. The lake is not large, but is as transparent as glass, and 
reflects the mountains like a mirror. The sun rose at 8.40, and as 
he slowly climbed over the mountains, the view was indescribable. 
The mountain tops were fringed as if with gold, and their reflection 
in the lake was magnificent. We saw the waning moon reflected in 
the lake, go out before the rising sun. It was a sight such as we 
never beheld, and perhaps will never again. 

When you are in the valley, don't fail to go to Snow's and see 
Vernal and Nevada Falls. They haven't the height of Yosemite, 
but to our mind this is the prettiest portion of the valley. Perhaps 
we saw it under more favorable circumstances. It is five miles 
from Black's, and the trail leads along the Merced which forms a 
series of magnificent cascades. The main body of the Merced flows 
over these two falls. The Nevada is six hundred feet high, four 
times as high as Niagara, and about sixty feet wide. The water is 
broken into fragments and falls on the rocks below with a deafen- 



36 , ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

ing noise. The scenery is of the wildest and grandest. The Cap 
of Liberty, a stupendous mass of rock, isolated and nearly perpen- 
dicular on all sides, rises to nearly two thousand feet. Broderick 
stands just behind and is nearly or quite as high, while still farther 
back is Cloud's Rest and South Dome. The distance between Ver- 
nal and Nevada Falls is probably a half-mile, and the river, as it 
rushes madly on, forms some of the most magnificent rapids to be 
seen anywhere. Near the bridge the water is compelled to pass 
through a narrow granite trough and is broken into particles which 
are tossed into the air and glitter in the sunlight like diamonds. 
Farther on it is spread out like a lace curtain as it plunges over a 
large flat rock, changing its form every moment, and falls into a 
large basin where it is placid as a lake of glass, and gently flows to 
the top of Vernal Falls, when it takes its final plunge of four hun- 
dred feet onto the rocky bed below. 

Snow will give you an excellent dinner for a dollar, entertain you 
hospitably, and make you feel at home. We saw on the register, 
under date of June 12, 1875, the names of our friends Geo. Smuller 
and his estimable daughter, with the remark that they were greatly 
pleased with the host and hostess. Mrs. Snow said she remembered 
them very well, as they spent several days there. 

"It doesn't rain in California in summer," we were told. It does 
rain in the Yosemite, and it did at Snow's. So gathering some 
empty sacks, we put them over the ladies' shoulders, and started 
for the valley, which, when reached, a brisk canter soon brought 
us to the hotel, where the costumes of the ladies were greatly 
admired. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. ^ 37 



We give below the 

TABLE OF ALTITUDES AT YOSEMITE VALLEY. 

■\77■^^1'^::E^:r'^^I_lXJS. 
Indian Name. Signification. American Name. Height. 

Po-ho-no Spirit of the Evil Wind Bridal Veil 940 feet 

Yo-sem-ite Large Grizzly Bear 2,634 feet 

First Fall, 1,600 feet; Second Fall, 534 feet; Third Fall, 500 feet. 

Pi-wa-ack Cataract of Diamonds Vernal 350 feet 

Yo-wi-ye Meandering Nevada 700 feet 

To-lool-we-ack Rushing Water South Fork 500 feet 

To-coy-ae Shade to Indian Baby Basket . Eoyal Arch Fall. 2,000 feet 

Lioya •. Sentinel Fall 3,270 feet 

Lung-oo-too-koo-ya . . .Long and Slender Ribbon Fall 3,300 feet 

Tis-sa-ack Goddess of the Valley South Dome 5,000 feet 

Cloud's Rest 6,150 feet 

To-coy-ae Shade to Indian Baby Basket. . North Dome 3,725 feet 

Glacier Point. . . .3,200 feet 

Hunto The Watching Eye Round Tower. .. .2,400 feet 

Mah-ta Martyr Mountain Cap of Liberty.. .3,100 feet 

Mt. Starr King.. 5,100 feet 

Tu-tock-a-nu-la Great Chief of the Valley The Captain 3,300 feet 

Wah-wah-le-na Three Graces 3,400 feet 

Pom-pom-pa-sus Falling Rocks Three Brothers.. .3,830 feet 

Po-see-nah-Chuck-ca.Large Acorn Cache Cathedral Spires. 2,660 feet 

Sentinel Dome. . .4,150 feet 

Loya The Sentinel 3,100 feet 

Union Point 2,300 feet 

Moran's Point. . .2,250 feet 

Glacier Point 3,200 feet 

Its general course is northeasterly and southwesterly. The main Merced 
River runs through it. In many places the walls of the valley are nearly ver- 
tical. The mountains surrounding it will average about 4,000 feet in height. 

Six days spent in the valley gives one a pretty good chance of 
seeing it. It is impossible, however, to describe it. It must be seen. 
"See Naples and die," is a proverb. See Yosemite and live, say 
we; and after you have seen it, you will still be unable to get your 
hearers to comprehend the height of its falls, the grandeur of its 
peaks, and the magnitude of the valley and its surroundings. 

It was here, in this great temple of nature, that the Yosemite As- 
sembly was held. A neat chapel was erected by the California 



38 ' ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

Sunday-school workers, but not fully completed. A bell arrived on 
Saturday evening, and was soon placed in position, and for the first 
time 

" The sound of the church-going bell" 

was heard in the valley. 

The Assembly was opened on Saturday evening, June 7th, w^ith an 
address of welcome by the Rev. Dr. M. M. Gibson, President of the 
State Association. He said: 

We extend a cordial welcome to the Eastern Excursionists. We 
welcome you to the Pacific State; to the cloudless skies of Califor- 
nia; to this temple of nature, the Yosemite Valley, which has been 
sculptured by the finger of the Almighty; to our hearts which are 
large enough to hold the sacramental host. California needs the in- 
fluence which you bring. In the name of the Divine Redeemer we 
bid you a hearty welcome. We open and pour out the fullness of 
our hearts before you. In the name of the Executive Committee, 
in the interests of the Sunday-school, and in the name of Him in 
whose interests we have assembled, I again bid you a hearty wel- 
come. God grant that from this Assembly streams of influence 
may go forth that will be felt throughout the State. Two years ago, 
by unanimous vote, the Committee invited Dr. Vincent to come to 
California in 1879 and hold two Assemblies. In accordance with 
that we are assembled this evening, and I now have the pleasure of 
introducing the Rev. Dr. Vincent, Conductor of the Assembly. 

Dr. Vincent conducted the Chautauqua Vesper Service, after 
which a prayer was offered. 

He then spoke of the object of the Assembly, and continued as 
follows: 

We meet in Yosemite. We can hear the thunders of its water- 
falls, and look up and see the stars crowning the mountain-tops. 
This valley has been consecrated by the scientists. I honor them. 
Those, too, who love the beautiful have come here. We are come 
to sound the praises of the Most High with the thunders of the 
waters. We look up and praise Him. Under the inspiration of the 
moment I could do a very indiscreet thing and talk for an hour — for 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. ■ 39 

fifteen minutes— for ten minutes. We are liere as scientists, as 
ministers, as laymen, as neiglibors to greet each otiier, and there 
are a number of persons from whom I want to hear. I will call on 
Mr. Rice. 

Rev. H. H. Rice, State Secretary, was then introduced. 

He spoke of the work of the past two years. God had been lead- 
ing the way. These Sunday-school meetings had inspired the 
w^orkers and they wanted to establish the Sunday-school work in 
California as it was never before established. To save the world 
by saving the children is the need of California 

Rev. Dr. Sinex was next introduced. 

After a few words of greeting, he said the mighty rocks, the 
waterflills in all their grandeur, were not so grand as God's work 
on human hearts. He trusted there would be such a feeling exhibit- 
ed that would make the meetings as good as if they were held in 
San Francisco or Sacramento. He hoped, as we climed the trails; 
as we stood upon the mountains; as we were sprinkled with the 
spray from these mighty waterfalls, we would recognize in all the 
hand of God. 

Rev. Dr. Jackson, of Denver, said he greeted the Assembly as 
one coming from the centre. He came as one representing the 
great interior, from Montana to Texas, along the backbone of the 
continent. He came from the few Sunday-schools of New Mexico, 
where men and women lash themselves; where they bow to wooden 
idols; where they crucify themselves on wooden crosses in order 
to satisfy a guilty conscience; from the Astecs. from the Sun Wor- 
shipers, from a country where men worshiped Baal when our fathers 
were building their woolen churches; from the few Sunday-schools 
gathered in Utah, and among the Indians. While he came with 
the greetings of these people, he came also, praying that there might 
such an influence go from this Assembly as will be a blessing to all, 

Galen Clark, State Guardian of the Valley, was then introduced. 

He said that in 1851 the first white men entered the valley. A 
battalion of soldiers came to take the Indians to a reservation. In 
1853 some prospectors came. Two were killed and one wounded. 



40 AGE OSS THE CONTINENT. 



after which a party of whites came to chastise the Indians. In 1855 
Mr. Hutchings first visited it. The trails were then Indian trails. 
In 1856 the first trails were opened and tourists came into the val- 
ley as campers. In the autumn of 1856 the first house was erected 
and the following year it was opened as a hotel. In 1864 the 
United States government gave it to California to be forever held 
for public use, resort and recreation, and in 1874 the first wagon 
road was built into the valley. 

Rev. Dr. Peltz, after being introduced, said: 

One thought has been impressed upon my mind since coming into 
the valley. "Be still and know the Lord is God." Let it be ours 
to work with God in his own appointed ways. Let us leave this 
valley realizing God's greatness as we never did before. 

The services were delightfully interspersed with singing, conducted 
by the Hutchinson Family. 

On going into the valley, Mr. Cook, inspired by the magniticent 
scenery, composed the following, which Avas known as the Yosemite 
Doxology, and was sung at nearly every meeting: 

" The hills of God support the skies, 
To God let adoration rise ; 
Let hills and skies and heavenly host, 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." 

Sunday morning the first Sunday-school ever held in the valley, 
was organized with Rev. H. M. Sanders, of New York, as pastor; 
Rev. Dr. Peltz, of N. Y., superintendent; Rev. Dr. Gibson, of 
California, assistant superintendent; Rev. J. M. Allis, of California, 
chorister; Miss E. P. Fowler, of California, organist; and J. H. 
Redsecker, secretary. There were one hundred and twenty-six 
scholars, representing sixteen States, two Territories and the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, with twenty visitors. The teachers were. Revs. 
H. H. Rice, H. W. Brown, A. S. Fiske, Mr. Charles B. Geddes, 
and Miss Ada Chase, of California; Rev. Dr. Trowbridge, of Mich. ; 
and Mr. Ed. S. Wagoner and Rev. T J. Ferguson, of Pa. 

After Sunday-school, Rev. Dr. Guard preached the dedicatory 
sermon, and Rev. Joseph Cook made the following dedicatory 
prayer : 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 41 

"Almighty God, thou hast consecrated this valley; may we not 
desecrate it. We are sinners. In the presence of these stupendous 
revelations of thy power, may we be delivered from contempt of 
thy word and commandment. Face to face with these precipices 
may men acquire hearts as upright and downright as these rocks. 
From thy house, which we dedicate to thee, may thy truth be pro- 
claimed in tones as bold as these hills, and tender as the voice of 
these waters. What men say here the world will little note, nor 
long remember; but it will never forget what thou hast said here. 
May our speech accord with thine. May all discussions of the 
truth here, echo God. May they reflect Thee as these waters reflect 
the precipices. We shall pass away and be forgotten, but genera- 
tion after generation will be represented by those who walk 
through this valley. We dedicate this house to the religious service 
of all nations. May artists and poets be inspired here. May 
statesmen and reformers obtain courage here. May preachers and 
teachers find strength and tenderness here. When the children of 
Europe, and of Greece, and of Italy, and of the Holy Land come 
here, may they meet Thee, and may we meet them in the spirit of 
Christian brotherhood. When the children of the Yellow Sea come 
hither, may they find instruction and be treated with justice on the 
shores of the Pacific. In this holy place wilt thou knit the hearts 
of all nations to each other and to thyself. The high noon is above 
our heads, and in the presence of these glorious works of thine, we 
dedicate this house to Thy service. We give ourselves up to Thee 
in irreversible, affectionate, total self-surrender. We beseech Thee 
to fill this temple to the latest generation with the love of God, the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy 
Spirit; and this for thine own sake. Amen." 

In the afternoon Dr. Vincent preached in front of one of the 
hotels "On the Way of Salvation," and in the evening Joseph 
Cook preached in the chapel. Thus the Assembly was formally 
and profitably opened, and the people prepared for the services of 
the week. 

On Monday morning a "conversation" was held, after which 
Prof. John Muir, a gentleman who has given many years to a 



43 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



study of the Yoseinite Valley and the surrounding mountains, 
lectured on the "Geological Records of the Valley." Prof Muir 
claims that the valley has been formed by glaciers. He says the 
rocks bear distinct evidence of five glaciers at different periods, 
some of which were 400 miles long and 70 miles wide. These 
glaciers carried the rock and debris with them, while the soft earth 
was deposited in the water and gradually subsided. He presents his 
arguments so clearly, is so modest and unassuming withal, that you 
cannot bring yourself to doubt his theory in the absence of other proof 
to the contrary. He said there were other valleys, not far distant, form- 
ed in the same manner, and that a glacier now exists on the Lyall 
group. On Tuesday Joseph Cook lectured on "Certainties in 
Religion," and in the evening Prof Muir lectured on "Mountain 
Sculpture," which he illustrated by diagrams, and which was as 
interesting as his lecture on the valley. 

Thus the week was made up, with sometimes a day, and again a 
half-day, spent in excursions, and the rest of the time in lectures, 
conversations, and the like. One Wednesday evening we had a 
camp fire, around which the guests in the valley gathered. The 
fire lighted up the forest beautifully, the great trees cast weird 
shadows, and the Yosemite Falls thundered just beyond. Rev. 
Walter W. Hammond opened with a description of Moab, others 
followed with incidents and descriptions of travel, when Dr. 
Vincent led a conversation "On the Best Means of Promoting 
Spirituality in our Churches," Prof Muir gave an interesting 
description of the various groves of Big Trees, and at a late hour 
the meeting closed. Altogether the Yosemite Assembly was one 
of the most pleasant and instructive of gatherings, combining sight- 
seeing, with prayer, praise, work, and information. It will long 
be remembered by the hundreds who were there. 

The hotels were crowded. Many with difficulty found sleeping 
accommodations, but all got enough to eat, and there were but few 
grumblers, for they expected some inconvenience. 

We had been told, "Don't wear a good suit in the valley. A 
suit once worn in the valley is not fit for further wear. " Let me say, 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 43 

you can go into the valley and wear the best clothing you have. 
Of course you won't do that, nor do you want to take a Saratoga 
trunk, but you can do so if you wish. We saw no place in the 
valley where you will get your clothing soiled if you take ordinary 
care. You will find plenty of dust going in. Do not let any one 
influence you to put on the worst clothing you have unless you 
have something better with you. Of course, dress is not everything, 
but you may feel badly if you have not something better with you. 
Take water-proof with you, and you can go under the falls if you 
wish. Read all you can find on the Yosemite before going, and be 
prepared for a surprise. 



NUMBER SIX. 

leaving the valley— the big trees— lost in the 

mountains— mariposa— merced— arrival in 

san francisco. 

Monterey, July 2, 1879. 

The stage companies had arranged to get all the tourists into the 
Yosemite Valley in two or three days at the most, and they hud the 
stages ready, and did it, too. But when it came to getting out, we 
found they were unequal to the task, and could only take one or 
two stage loads at most, on each route daily, and so M^e were 
obliged to get out in small companies. 

On Thursday, June 12th, we were up early for our stage was to 
leave at six o'clock. We waited patiently, or impatiently rather, 
and at half-past nine, three hours and a-half behind time, the stage 
pulled up at the door; the passengers were quickly in their places 



44 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

and we were off, out through the valley and slowly toiling up the 
mountain side. At last Inspiration Point was reached and we had 
our last look at this famous place which shall remain forever indeli- 
bly stamped on the memory. We exclaimed, in the language of one 
of the native poets: 

" While nature's pulse shall beat the dirge of time, 
Thy domes shall stand— thy glorious waters chime, 
Farewell, Yosemite ; thy falls and sunlit towers 
Will rise like visions on my future hours." 

We were to be at Clark's at noon. We did not reach there until 
5 o'clock and, though it was late, determined to go and see the 
Big Trees. Mr. Washburn protested slightly, but getting the coach 
ready, seven of our party got in it, while two of us went on horse- 
back. The distance to the trees is about five miles. We saw them, 
had quite an adventure, and saw very mucli more than was in the 
original programme. 

We got as far as the Grizzly Giant, an old veteran of the forest, 
fully 250 feet high and 100 feet in circumference, passing very many 
others on our way, and by means of a ladder climbed upon the 
Fallen Monarch, a tree of immense size fast going to decay. 

It was growing late and we urged a return, but the driver wanted 
to take us through the big tree, which is so large they drive a four- 
horse stage through it. We went, we saw, and were satisfied that 
going to see the Big Trees in the evening is not the best time. 
Your correspondent, who was on horse-back, started for Clark's, 
hoping the stage would follow. Night came on, and night in the 
Sierra Nevada mountains, with the Sequoias and tall yellow and 
sugar pines, means darkness intensified. Urging the horse forward 
into the darkness, the miles were passed over slowly. Would I 
ever get out? Were there any grizzlies about? These were ques- 
tions that, like Banquo's ghost, would not down at one's bidding. 
Presently hallooing was heard and quickly responded to, supposing 
it came from the party in the stage. Soon two horsemen, with 
lanterns, galloped around a curve in the road, inquired for the 
stage, gave directions about the road, and vanished in the 



AGE 088 THE CONTINENT. 45 



darkness. Plodding forward, at last I saw the glimmering of 
the lights in the hotel, not more than half a mile distant, and 
striking a match, found it was half-past nine o'clock. I wound 
my way around the curves on this wonderfully crooked road, 
and one hour later drew rein in front of Clark's. But the 
stage did not come. What of them ? Mr. Washburn grew anxious, 
sent out more men with lanterns, and at ten minutes after one 
o'clock we were rejoiced to see them return in safety. The driver, 
in the darkness, drove around a circle in the road, and through the 
tree some half-dozen times. At last getting out of this, he found his 
way down the mountain some distance, when the horses got off the 
road, the stage was nearly upset, and they were obliged to get out, 
unhitch the horses, and get them back into the road. Further 
progress in the darkness was impossible, and concluding they 
would have to remain in the mountain all night, theyhadbuilta camp 
fire and were preparing to make the best of their unpleasant situa- 
tion. Thus they were found, like the babes in the woods, by the res- 
cuing party, and safely guided to the hotel. There were four ladies 
in the party, and they acted bravely under such trying circum- 
stances. It was an adventure at the Big trees which will not be 
forgotten. 

While gathered around the camp fire in the Yosemite Valley, 
Prof Muir, by request, gave us a description of the Big Trees. The 
groves are all found between latitude 36 and 38, and never below 
5,000, nor above 7,000 feet. There are eight groves of these trees 
in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Calaveras, Stanislaus, Merced, 
Mariposa, Fresno, King's River, North Fork of the Tule River, 
and the South Fork of the Tule River. They were the first trees 
to grow after the snow and ice had disappeared, and naturally ap- 
propriated to themselves the best soil and most favorable situations. 
Their age has been variously estimated. Wherever they are found, 
streams of water are abundant, and some scientists have at- 
tributed their immense growth to the abundance of water. Prof. 
Muir says the size of the trees is not caused by the water, but the 
water is the result of the trees. The spongy character of the bark 
— we have seen it over two feet in thickness — and the innumerable 



46 ACE OSS THE CONTINENT. 



roots, are admirably adapted to holding the water, and what has 
been taken for the cause, is only the effect of their size. Prof 
Muir has been in intimate communion with nature for years. He 
has laid his head close to her beating heart, and his conclusions are 
the result of careful and thorough investigation. 

The Mariposa grove is the largest, containing about 300 trees, and 
is the property of the State. The Calaveras grove is kept in better 
condition, we are told, than any other, and has an excellent hotel 
in the grove. The trees, too, are of greater altitude, being more 
than 300 feet high, but are smaller in circumference. In the Mari- 
posa grove the Grizzly Giant is the greatest in circumference. 
There are hundreds, however, which are much higher. The Big 
Trees all bear the general name of Sequoia gigantea, in honor of the 
Cherokee chief who made an alphabet for his tribe. 

They are a species of redwood, and very much resemble the cedar. 
The cones are small, while those of the sugar pine are of enol*mous 
size, and the seeds not nearly so large as a grain of wheat. A friend 
gave me a few seeds, told me to plant and watch them for the next 
thousand years. He is fond of a joke, and forgets that my name is 
not Methuselah. 

The next day we were off for Merced, and had a delightful ride 
through the mountain. The live oaks, on the foothills, look like 
old orchards at a distance. The moss hangs in festoons from the 
trees, while the mistletoe is found in great bunches growing upon 
them. 

We passed through the town of Mariposa, where Gen. Fremont's 
claim is located, which has been in litigation for the past quarter of 
a century. The town has an abandoned appearance, the mines are 
not worked, and the entire place has a look of utter dessolation. 
There is considerable gulch mining done along the streams on this 
route, principally by the Chinese, who make about a dollar a day. 
We gathered a handful of dirt, and found it sparkling with small 
pieces of yellow gold. 

Large flocks of Angora goats are found on many of the ranches. 
They are kept for their long white fleece, which is valuable. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 47 



The plains and woods are full of flowers of the most beautiful de- 
scription. Among them is the snow plant, a bright scarlet flower, 
the stem of which is a pulpy mass, crystalline like ice, from one to 
two inches in diameter, and growing like a fungus. Patches of 
mountain phlox are spread out, decking the sides of the mountain 
with a flowry carpet, while the escholtzia, with its bright golden 
flowers, the calechortus or Mariposa lily, a beautiful flower, the 
mountain pink, with its bright scarlet, and others in infinite variety, 
add a charm to the scenery. Prof Muir, who is a botanist as well 
as a geologist, tells me that not more than five per cent, of the flora of 
California is found east of the rocky mountains. Everything seems 
to grow luxuriantly under these favoring skies, and as you look out 
on the fields, bare and brown, hardly a spear of green grass visible 
anywhere, you wonder how it is possible. The grass dries on the 
stem, and is very nutritious, for cattle will feed and fatten on it 
remarkably well. 

We have found the fuchsia, which with us attains a height of two 
or three feet, grow here up over the sides of the house and have the 
largest and most perfect flowers. The geraniums grow from six to 
ten feet high, and have masses of large flowers. The oleander, 
which we have to take into the house in winter, and the lugging of 
which I have painful recollections, here remains in the open air the 

year round. We have seen the Datura — the cultivated variety 

growing as a tree, fully fifteen feet high, and bearing flowers from 
four to six inches in diameter, while the common Datura Stramo- 
nium attains a much larger size than with us. 

The second day from the valley we reached Merced, and were 
glad to see the railroad and bid farewell to stage coaches. The next 
day we took cars for San Francisco, which was reached at noon, and 
where we soon found the Lick House, a most comfortable hotel. A 
bath, which we all needed, a dip into our trunks for clean clothing, 
and we felt ready to see San Francisco, and spend to-morrow — Sun- 
day — in rest and worship. 



48 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



NUMBER SEVEN. 

SAN FRANCISCO— I^ICK HOUSE— EARLY HISTORY— CHINESE 
MISSION— DR. KALLOCH'S CHURCH. 

San Francisco, July 8, 1879. 

On your arrival in San Francisco you are cordially greeted by 
the vociferous shouting of the hackmen, who almost lay violent 
hands on you. You are glad to escape from them, and, securing a 
carriage, make your way to the hotel you have selected. We had 
arranged to stop at the Lick House, a quiet, orderly hotel on Mont- 
gomery street, in the business portion of the city, and subsequent 
experience proved that we had made a wise choice. Some of our 
friends were already there, and Col. John H. Lick, son of the mill- 
ionaire-philanthropist, an old Lebanonian now stopping in this 
city, had arranged for our comfort. We were soon made to (eel at 
home, as are all the guests, for there is a home-like air about the 
Lick House that one experiences at but few hotels. 

The house fronts 200 feet on Montgomery street, and extends a 
distance of 318 feet on Sutter street, and is only three stories high, 
so that if you are put on the topmost story, as we were not, you are 
not so very high up in the world. The manager, Mr. Schoenwald, 
and the clerks, even down to the humblest servant, are exceedingly 
obliging, and vie with each other in ministering to the comfort of the 
guests. The hotel is complete in all its apartments, and first-class 
in every particular. 

The dining-room is a marvel of elegance, and is said to be the 
finest in the world. It is lighted by two large glass chandeliers, 
each having thirty-six burners. In addition to these, there are 
twelve three-light burners around the sides which light it up bril- 
liantly. Four large mirrors, eight by ten feet in size, are arranged 
in the corners, while in the panels on the sides and ends are elegant 
oil paintings, the size of the mirrors, executed by some of the best 
artists in the State. The}^ represent "California in 1849," a vessel 
coming through the Golden Gate; "TheYosemite Falls;" "South 
Dome," with El Capitan in the foreground; "Sentinel Dome;" 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 49 

"Mount Shasta;" "The Redwood Forest" in the Russian River 
Valley; a Scene on the Isthmus of Panama, and others. Having 
seen the Yosemite, we can say that the canvas representations are 
true to nature. The dining-room is presided over by Mr. McDer- 
mott, who greets the guests with a pleasant smile, places them, and 
sees that they are properly cared for. The room will comfortably seat 
300 guests at one time. We paid our bill, and therefore the notice 
of this elegant hotel is given gratuitously. There are a number of 
other hotels in the city, the largest of which is the Palace, where 
many of our tourists stopped. It is seven stories high, will accom- 
modate 1,300 guests, but is a great barn -like structure. We had 
occasion to go there a few times on business, and had our head 
almost taken off by the impudence of the office clerks. You may 
be sure we gave them as wide a berth as possible after that. 

Being thus comfortably fixed, we had time to settle doAvn and 
study the history of San Francisco, and look at it in its hurry and 
rush of business. 

The first white settlement of San Francisco was made in 1776, by 
the establishment of a Spanish military post, and a mission of Fran- 
ciscan Friars to convert the Indians. The Bay of San Francisco 
was discovered by Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan Friar, who 
named it after St. Francis, the patron saint of the order. They 
erected a cross and took formal possession on the 17th of September^ 
1770, by religious services and the firing of cannon and musketry 
.from the shore, and the vessel which had arrived a month before. 

The mission was maintained until 1835. In 1836 the town of 
Terha Buena — good herb — was laid out and the first house built by 
Capt. Richardson, an American. It was simply a large tent sup- 
ported on four large redwood posts, and covered with a ship's fore- 
sail. In 1846 there was not more than twenty houses, with a popu- 
lation of 200. In January, 1848, the name of the place was changed 
to San Francisco, and by April of the same year it contained 100 
houses and 500 people. 

In the winter of 1847-8, James W. Marshall, who was digging a 
mill-race for Capt. Sutter on the American River, a tributary of the 



50 ACB088 THE CONTINENT. 

Sacramento, discovered gold. He was wild with excitement when 
he came to Sutter and made it known. Captain Sutter thought the 
man crazy, but when he showed him the shining metal all doubts 
were removed. They agreed to work it together, and leave no one 
into the secret, but it soon became known, and produced the great- 
est excitement. By the end of April, 1848, the rush for the gold 
diggings began, and San Francisco lost most of its male population. 
In 1849 San Francisco had become a world-famed seaport, and its 
harbor was filled with the ships of various nations. Each day 
brought new emigrants either by sea or overland, and at the end of 
the year 1849, the city had a population of 20,000. By the census 
of 1850 it had 34,000. In 1854 the gold yield began to decrease, 
and the city received a business shock, but in 1869 the Comstock 
and other lodes were discovered and prosperity again restored. 
San Francisco has had an eventful career. In 1851, 1856, and again 
in 1877 vigilant committees were formed and took control of the 
city to rescue and purge it of scoundrels. Their proceedings have 
always been governed by prudence and justice. 

The harbor is one of the finest, it is said, in the world. It is certainly 
magnificent, and capable of anchoring the navies of the world. It 
is entered through the Golden Gate, which is about a mile and a 
quarter wide. The government has a number of forts in and 
around the harbor. The entrance to the harbor was nnmed the 
Golden Gate by Gen. Fremont in the spring of 1848, before the 
gold discoveries. "It was so named because of the rich and fertile 
country which surrounds its shores, and of the wealth which 
the commerce of the Pacific would give to the future great city. 
The name was probably suggested by the Golden Horn of Constan- 
tinople, and the discovery of gold afterward has made it signifi- 
cant." 

The city has grown rapidly since 1850, and has a number of very 
handsome business blocks and private residences. Among the 
notable public buildings are the Mint, Custom House, City Hall, 
(not yet completed and which will cost over $4,000,000), the Mer- 
chants' Exchange, the Mercantile Library, the California and 
Nevada Banks, and Stock Exchange. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 51 

The railroad magnates and bonanza kings have fine private 
residences on Nob Hill and • other portions of the city, as well as 
elegant summer residences at Menlo Park, about an hour's ride by- 
rail from the city. Many of the houses— fully four-fifths— are built 
of wood, as they are supposed to be more secure against the shocks of 
earthquakes, which are by no means of unfrequent occurrence. 

We arrived in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon, the 14th of 
June. In company with friends we went out to see the city, and 
were attracted by a large crowd. We learned that a drinking- 
fountain had just been dedicated by Francis Murphy, who has been 
doing a good work in this city. The fountain was erected by H. D, 
Coggswel] and presented to the city. It is a square shaft of polished 
granite surmounted by a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin. It 
bears the inscription: "Presented by H. D. Coggswell to our boys and 
girls who will soon take our places and pass on." On three sides 
were the words "Congress," "Seltzer," "Vichy," and below 
each was a spigot and a cup. On another side was "Mementoes 
for the Historical Society in 1979." A number of mementoes were 
deposited in the base, to be opened a hundred years hence. On the 
base was the word ' ' Welcome, ' ' and the crowd who had gathered 
about it to partake of the water, gave evidence that they appreciated 
the welcome. When we remember that there are 8,022 liquor- 
selling establishments in the city, we may well wish that more of 
San Francisco's wealthy men would do likewise, and lend their 
influence to the cause of cold water. 

San Francisco is the most cosmopolitan city on the American 
continent, if not in the world. Almost every nationality is repre- 
sented here. The American, the English, the French, the German, 
the Dutch, the Italian, the Portugese, Japanese, Chinese, and how 
many other nationalities I know not, have been attracted hither by 
the greed for gold, 

Sunday is a grand holiday. We have never seen so much dese- 
cration of the Sabbath in any other American city. Stores are 
open, business is pushed as vigorously, and crime as rampant as on 
any other day of the week. Boats go out loaded with passengers. 



52 ACB088 THE CONTINENT. 

with banners flying and bands playing. The cars, too, carry out 
their thousands; the theaters and concert halls are open; billiard 
and gambling saloons are in full operation; and the city seems giv- 
en over to business and pleasure. The churches, of course, are 
open, and have their share of devout Christian worshipers, but by 
far the greater portion are off pleasuring, and pay no heed to the 
command, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." In our 
wanderings on Saturday we had seen the Chinese mission building, 
where Rev. Dr. Loomis' work is conducted. So on Sunday morn- 
ing we attended the service, which commenced by singing "Praise 
God," in Chinese. The singing throughout was accompanied by 
organ music, the playing being done by one of the Chinamen. The 
71st Psalm was then read, the Lord's prayer repeated, after which 
"Jerusalem, my happy home," was sung. Dr. Loomis then led in 
prayer, and the 69th Psalm was read, the missionary and congrega- 
tion reading the verses alternately. This was followed by "Rock 
of Ages," after which one of the converts read the third chapter of 
Acts. Dr. Loomis then preached a sermon, and was followed in a 
short exhortation by one of the Chinese brethren, whom we after- 
ward learned was a preacher. Thus far the service was conducted 
entirely in the Chinese language, and, though we did not under- 
stand a word, it was very interesting. They then sang ' ' I love to 
tell the story " in English, and did remarkably well. The Lord's 
prayer was repeated and the doxology sung, both in English, and 
the services closed. The. women come in by a side door and sit 
apart from the men behind curtains, so that they cannot be seen. 
Dr. Loomis has been a missionary since 1844, and for the past twen- 
ty years has been engaged in missionary work among the Chinese 
in this city. Immediately after the preaching service they had a 
Sunday-school session, but another engagement prevented our stay- 
ing. This mission is under the care of the Presbyterian Church. 
They have about a 120 converts, a Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion, Sabbath and day schools, and are doing a good work. We 
were cordially greeted by our Chinese brethren, some of whom 
spoke English very well. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 53 



We afterwards learned that there are three Chinese missions in 
this city, the others being conducted by the Methodist and Congre- 
gational Churches. In the afternoon we accompanied Dr. Vincent 
to several of the Methodist Sunday-schools, and had the pleasure of 
hearing him make several addresses. He is a pleasant speaker, 
knows how to talk to young people, as well as old, and holds 
their attention throughout. In the evening we went to hear Dr. 
Kalloch, a Baptist minister, who has since been nominated by the 
Kearney party for mayor of the city. His church is built like a 
theatre, and will hold 2, 500 people. He is a great sensational char- 
acter, and they are drawn thither because of this. AYe never were 
in a church where there appeared to be less worship. He began the 
service by reading extracts from letters and the press, and comment- 
ing on them to the infinite amusement of his audience, which ap- 
plauded when anything pleased them. After this a lady sang a 
solo, which was so good that the audience encored and she had to 
repeat it. The preacher then announced his text, and throughout 
the sermon there were frequent demonstrations of applause. The 
sermon ended, a short prayer was said, after which the audience 
began to disperse without waiting for the closing hymn or the ben- 
ediction, which, however, w^ere gone through with. To call it 
Avorship is a misnomer. One of our lady tourists who was there 
told me she was shocked at the demonstrations of the audience, and 
turning to a lady who was sitting beside her, asked, "Do they con- 
duct their services always in this way?" "Indeed I do not know. 
I am a stranger here, and I have promised the Lord that if he lets 
me get out of this, I'll never go into such a place again," was the 
reply she received. 

But my letter is already of sufficient length. The sights of the 
city, our sail on the bay, the Chinese quarter, and the Chinese the- 
atre, with other matters of interest, will have to wait for our next. 



54 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

NUMBER EIGHT. 

THE CHINESE QUESTION— CHINATOWN— THE THEATRE— 
STREET RAILWAYS- YACHTING— DIAMOND PALACE- 
MARKETS. 

San Francisco, July 9, 1879. 

The Chinese question is a problem in the social and political 
future of California that will require a wise and liberal statesman- 
ship to adjust. "The Chinese must go " is the chorus shouted by- 
Kearney and his followers, while the Chinese as positively say they 
will not go. They are here by treaty stipulation with the United 
States government, and know and will maintain their rights. They 
say that for years they were alone, having no intercourse with the 
outside world, and desired to have none. They claim it w^s forced 
on them at the cannon's mouth by the European and American 
nations, and they had to accept. They purpose keeping their part 
of the treaty faithfully, and expect other nations to do the same. 
In this they are right. It does seem a piece of presumption for 
men like Kearney and his ignorant followers, composed as they 
largely are of the worst elements of society, and they themselves 
foreigners who are here by sutferance of the liberal policy of the 
government, to assume to dictate to the American nation its foreign 
policy, and say who shall or who shall not come or stay. 

It is true the Chinese are heathen, do not engage in Sand-Lot 
demonstrations on the Sabbath-day and disturb the public peace. 
It is true they do not drink • whiskey at corner-groggeries, swill 
German beer in some public garden, talk of a division of property 
and raise the red flag of communism; do not incite to incendiarism, 
riot or plunder; but still they must go — and why? Because by 
their patience, their plodding and their willingness to do an honest 
day's work for fair wages they are displacing, to some extent, the 
striking, brawling white laborer, who is unwilling to work for less 
than $3.50 to $4 per day. It is a great pity this is so, but it is 
nevertheless a fact. Whether it would be wise to place some 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 55 

restriction on their further coming is a question, but why not 
accord them the same privileges extended to others ? Will a few 
hundred thousand Chinamen drive forty millions of people to the 
wall ? I think not. 

In conversation with a gentleman of wealth and position, he told 
me that a legislative committee appointed to investigate the subject 
reported that they were too economical, too industrious, too apt, and 
that they worked too cheap. These were the only causes of com- 
plaint which could be lodged against them. 

" How do you like John ?" we asked a lady who employs several 
as domestic servants. "Indeed I do not know how I would get 
along without them. I have tried help of all kinds, and in the 
midst of harvest, when we had our hardest work, they have left me, 
and I was obliged to do the work myself We tried Irish women, and 
in less than two weeks we had to carry several of them out, for they 
got drunk. They drank wine vinegar, so strong that no one else 
would #b,ve thought of touching it. You see we turn all our grapes 
into vinegar — wine vinegar. At last I was forced to get Chinamen, 
and since then we have had no trouble. They are honest, faithful, 
and learn quickly." This is the testimony of many others with 
whom I have spoken. 

Of course no Eastern tourist visits San Francisco without going 
to see Chinatown. It is in the centre of the city, and is a most 
wonderful part of it. We saw its various phases, and in daytime 
visited its stores, talked with the people, and saw nothing so very 
shocking. But you want to see it at night. Accompanied by a 
policeman some half-dozen of us were piloted through the allej-^s, 
up ricketj^ stairs, down into dark, deep cellars, and into small 
rooms in which twenty to thirty men pack themselves like sardines 
and sleep without ventilation. We went into the opium dens where 
men were smoking the drug, and some were lying curled up in 
blankets asleep under its influence. The sights were disgusting 
and shocking, and you wonder how it is possible for any human 
beings to live thus. But it is not worse than one could see among 
other nationalities in any of our large cities. It is not any worse, 



56 ACBOSS THE CONTINENT. 

certainly, than to see the pigs and goats in one end of the shanty 
while parents and children occupy the other. You might as well 
take a stranger through Bedford and Baker streets in Phihidelphia, 
or through the slums of any of our cities, and tell him Americans 
live thus. It would be a libel on American civilization. It is surely 
not as shocking as the French quarter, where vice lifts its hydra 
head in open day. We also visited Chinatown under the guidance 
of our friend Ching Yuen, a gentleman and a Christian, and were 
shown a very different aspect of affairs. The wholesale and retail 
merchants were very pleasant, and the stores light and airy. We 
also had the pleasure of calling on the Chinese Consul, and found 
him and his assistants very pleasant, his chief clerk speaking 
English quite fluently. Ching Yuen took us to his home, which 
was nicely furnished, while on the walls we observed such mottoes 
as " God bless our home, " and "The Lord is risen." His wife is 
a fine-looking lady, was dressed in Chinese costume, and, speaks 
English quite well. We also visited the Chinese theatre, which 
should not be missed by those who visit San Francisco. Ymi may 
not understand the plays, for they are representations of Chinese 
history, and continue through months. There is no drop-curtain, 
and no scenery whatever. The orchestra sits on the stage, while 
the music is the most inharmonious and discordant you ever heard. 
The stage property is very meagre, consisting of a cheap, square 
table and a few plain chairs, but they are made to answer many 
purposes. A chair turned on its side represented a well, while a 
chair stood on the table and covered with a cloth represented a throne 
for the king. The acrobatic performance is truly wonderful, while 
their fencing is grand, for, be it remembered, the Chinaman fights 
with two swords. The audience sit and smoke, watch the play with 
great interest, never applaud, and hardly ever smile. 

Justice Field, of the U. S. Court, has just rendered an important 
decision. The sheriff of San Francisco cut off the queue of a China- 
man who had been imprisoned for five days. The Chinaman 
brought suit, laying his damages at $10,000, and the courts have 
decided favorably for him. The decision has created great com- 
ment and much bitter feeling. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 57 

San Francisco has a perfect network of street railways, and you 
can reach any part of the city for five cents. There are several streets 
which have cable roads, on which the cars are noiselessly moved 
by some invisible power. We were shown the machinery which 
moves the cars on the California street road. They use 25,000 feet 
of cable, which runs in the centre of the track, revolved horizontally 
around immense iron wiieels at the ends of the road and in the 
engine-room. A dummy, to which the cars are attached, is fitted 
with grip, brakes and levers. The engineer draws a lever which 
fastens the grip to the revolving cable and the car is propelled 
forward. When he wants to stop the grip is loosed and the brakes 
applied. The tw^o engines, each 250 horse-power, are located under 
the road on Larkin street, about midway between the termini. The 
machinery is of the most complete character, and so arranged that 
it automaticall}^ takes up any slack in the cable. The grade on 
this road is in many places one foot elevation in every five feet, so 
that it would be impossible to use horses. 

We drove to the Cliff House, through the park, which, in years 
to come, will be a handsome place. A large conservatory, which 
James Lick purchased with the intention of erecting on his lands 
near San Jose, was bought from the trustees by several of the city's 
public-spirited citizens and presented to the park. It contains a 
variety of choice flowers, some of which, especially the aquatic 
plants, are very rare. From the Cliff House you get a fine view of 
the Pacific ocean and the seal rocks, on which are hundreds of the 
sea monsters quietly lounging about sunning themselves, or sport- 
ing in the water. They are carefully guarded by the authorities. 

The harbor of San Francisco is one of the finest on the continent. 
Through the kindness of Mr. J. Clem Uhler, an old Lebanonian, 
we spent a day most delightfully in the yacht Emerald, visiting the 
boat-house of the San Francisco Yacht Club, where we lunched, 
and thence to Fort Alcatraz, where we saw a dress parade, where 
the officers gathered handsome bouquets for the ladies, and enter- 
tained us all as handsomely as gallant officers know how\ 

Montgomery street is the Broadway or Chestnut street of San 



58 AGB088 THE CONTINENT. 

Francisco, and here are the elegant stores of the city. The most 
magnificent jewelry store we ever saw is the Diamond Palace of 
Col. Andrews. It sparkles with rare gems of value, while the 
jewelry is of the most artistic character, displaying the skill and 
genius of the proprietor. It is of the frescoing that I wish partic- 
ularly to speak. They are works of art worthy ot the brain that 
conceived, and the hand that painted them. They represent 
"Rebekah at the well," " Queen Esther," arrayed in royal robes, 
while her crown, her bracelets, her girdle and her ear-rings sparkle 
with brilliant diamonds; "Deborah, the Prophetess," "Jeptha's 
daughter," "Delilah," " The Egyptian girl," and "The Woman 
of Samaria," complete the frescoes. In the girdle or head-dress of 
each are appropriate gems. The sides are plate-glass mirrors, 
while the woodwork is finished in black and gold. 

We had the pleasure of meeting John S. Hittell, Esq., editor of 
the Alta, and author of several works on California. His Resources 
of California, a copy of which I have with the author's compli- 
ments, is a work of value, and has been largely quoted by writers. 
He is one of the early pioneers, and a prominent member and 
historian of the Pioneer Society. 

Col. John H. Lick, son of the millionaire whose name is familiar 
in connection with his large bequests, also showed us many acts of 
kindness. He is a resident of Lebanon, and is only staying tem- 
porarily in San Francisco. 

You have heard of California fruit. Perhaps you have eaten of 
it, but you have never seen it in the San Francisco markets. San 
Francisco has strawberries the year round; large luscious berries 
that make one's "mouth water" to look at. And such cherries ! 
Well, you can make two bites of one of them with ease. Other 
fruits in great abundance are to be found in the markets, and 
you inwardly say, " If it were not three thousand miles, I would like 
to send some home that friends might see and taste. ' ' 

The Stock Exchange is a perfect bedlam to a stranger. It is quite 
amusing to see the brokers buying and selling. The}^ jump at 
each other as if they were going to have a real rough-and-tumble 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 59 

fight. A gentleman who went in with his little daughter, found it 
impossible to prevent her screaming, for she thought they were 
going to have a regular fisticuflf. And I am not surprised, for they 
act sometimes like uncaged wild beasts. 

The Hoodlum is an institution peculiar to San Francisco, and 
vary in age from five to twenty years. They are a bad element ; 
sleep in, around and under the wharves like rats; will shoot a 
policeman as quickly as they would a dog; pull John Chinaman's 
queue as if it were a door-bell, and behave generally like untamed 
savages. They are a most vicious lot, and are going from bad to 
worse. They live by stealing, begging and pocket-picking. 



NUMBER NINE. 

SAN RAFAEL— ON THE ROAD TO THE GEYSERS— THE 
GEYSERS— FOSS— NAPA VAILLE Y— GRAPE 

cuiiture and wine making. 

San Francisco, July 10, 1879. 

Among the marvelous natural wonders with which California 
abounds there is, perhaps not one — Yosemite excepted — that pre- 
sents more attractions for the tourist than the great Geysers, as they 
are called, though they are really not Geysers, strictly speaking, 
but a series of hot springs and steam jets issuing out of the side of 
a mountain. They are well worth a visit, as the route takes you 
through some of the finest valleys of this land of wonders. 

Our arrangements for the trip were all made by our friend. Col. 
John H. Lick, and took us through the famous Sonoma and Rus- 
sian Valleys, and back to San Francisco by the Napa Valley, famous 
as the great grape-growing region of the State. In fact we "swung 
around the circle." 

The Rev. Mr. Ferguson, of Cumberland county, and your corres- 
pondent started in advance of the rest of the party and spent the 



60 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

night in San Rafael, a beautiful little town, fifteen miles north of 
San Francisco and eight miles from the ocean. It is noted as one 
of the sanitariums of the State and is much sought as a health re- 
sort, having less fog and wind than any other town close to San 
Francisco. It is near the foot of Tamalpais mountain. Some res- 
idents of San Francisco whom we met here, aud to whom we sug- 
gested that it was hardly necessary to leave the city with its delight- 
fully cool breezes, told us they came away to get warm. There is 
an air of comfort, home-life and leisure about San Rafael, with its 
cottages, and yards full of beautiful flowers, that does not exist in 
the great city across the bay. 

The next morning we joined our friends and were soon whirling 
along through the beautiful Sonoma Valley, passing the outskirts 
of Petaluma, and farther on stopping for a few minutes in the 
beautiful town of Santa Rosa, which offers many inducements for 
tourists to stop, but as our time was limited, we were obliged to go 
on. Santa Rosa, we are informed, contains a famous "rose-tree 
which at one time contained 20,000 blossoms, and though shorn of 
much of its beauty, still remains a gigantic bush." 

We pass from the Sonoma into the Russian River Valley, with 
the river gliding smoothly on its way to the ocean, very much di- 
minished in size because of the dry weather, but in winter it is a 
stream of considerable size. We at length reach Cloverdale, the 
terminus of the railroad, and take stages for the Geysers, fourteen 
miles distant. 

We cross the Russian river, and enter the mouth of the canyon 
from which issues the Pluton river on its way from the Geysers. 
The scenery is of the wildest description, and the road one of the 
most dangerous we have yet seen. A short distance from the 
mouth of the canyon we are shown profile rock, a huge projection 
of rock on the side of the mountain which bears a strong resemblance 
to a human face. 

We have entered the canyon, and our road is cut along its side, 
while hundreds of feet below is the river. The timid or nervous 
traveler should take a seat next the mountain, for he cannot look 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 61 



down the abrupt declivity along which we travel, without a shud- 
der at the possibility of an accident. Should the driver be careless, 
or the horses become unmanageable, we would be plunged into the 
yawning abyss below a distance of several hundred feet. 

As w^e pass further on the canyon opens out, and fine grazing 
land, tall pines, and the beautiful mandrona and manzanita, with 
their red bark and green foliage, abound in great variety. We also 
pass several deserted quicksilver mines, which are not now worked 
as the price of the metal will not pay for the labor. At last, after 
a dangerous, warm and dusty ride, we see jets of steam issuing out 
of the mountain side, and a few minutes later our stage stops in 
front of the Geyser Hotel. We wash off the dust of travel, and are 
ready to take a short walk through a portion of the canyon to the 
bath-house, where they have steam baths, the steam being supplied 
from the hillside. Having seen the bath-house, the next thing is 
to take a steam bath. You disrobe, enter a close, box-like room, 
turn on the steam, and in a few moments you find the perspiration 
streaming from every pore. After you have lost some twenty 
pounds, more or less, you enter another room, take a shower bath, 
then a plunge bath, and come forth a cleaner— and if ''cleanliness 
is next to godliness " — a better person than when you went in. 

By this time the stages on the Calistoga road arrive, and we find, 
they have brought about forty of our tourists, and the hotel is over- 
crowded. Mr. Forsythe, however, did handsomely by our little 
party, and we were nicely accommodated. 

The next morning we start to see the wonders of the Geysers. 
We find the canyon full of springs, boiling with heat, and emittino- 
large quantities of steam, with a roaring, hissing noise. There is 
an eye-water spring, which is said to possess wonderful curative 
properties for all diseases of the eye, as well as for all cutaneous dis- 
eases. We also see the devil's arm-chair, which is a hollowed-out 
rock, and forms a comfortable seat. We wonder why everything 
is named after the devil? They have even a mount Diabolo. Pass- 
ing on up the canyon we are soon brought into the devil's kitchen, 
where there is a terrible hissing noise produced by the steam issuing 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



from all sides of the mountain, while water, black as ink, and heat- 
ed to the boiling point, bubbles up on every side. The witches' 
cauldron is the largest spring in the canyon. It is about ten feet 
across, very deep, and very black. The water is boiling hot, and 
is raised to a distance of several feet. It seethes and boils at a 
furious rate, while just beside it flows a stream of beautifully clear 
and cold water, so that you may stoop down and dip one hand into 
boiling, and the other into cold water. 

The canyon is nature's grand chemical laboratory, for 'here you 
may find in process of manufacture, sulphate of magnesia (epsom 
salts), sulphate of iron (copperas), sulphate of aluminum (alum), 
and sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), as these various minerals are 
found here, and are combined with the sulphur which abounds in 
the water. 

Passing out of the canyon we descend the side of the mountain 
and pass the "steamboat," an opening about eight inches in diam- 
eter in the mountain, from whence issues the steam with a loud 
hissing noise like that made by a steam engine. Large columns of 
steam rise to a height of from fifty to two hundred feet. We pass 
over the Modoc lava beds, so called because of the lava they con- 
tain, and not because the Modocs were ever here. 

You have seen the Geysers, and are impressed with this great 
natural wonder. You return to the hotel, are ready for breakfast, 
and ready also to leave for Fossville. But the stages are crowded 
with those who came in them, and you don't want to crowd in and 
crowd some of them out, as did a Universalist minister from San 
Francisco. But what else can you expect? So you wait for Foss 
to send up a special, as he did for our party. 

Our return is by way of Calistoga, and we find the same narrow 
road along the side of the hill, while hundreds of feet below us is 
the deep gorge into which you look and shudder, fearful lest some 
slight mishap may plunge your stage and yourself into the depths 
below, from which there is no hope of escape with your life. At 
last we reach the summit of the mountain, and have a glorious view 
of the Russian, Sonoma and Napa Valleys. It is impossible to de- 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 63 

scribe it. Stretching away for miles and miles, as far as the eye can 
reach, is one broad expanse of mountain and plain, while away off 
in the distance, bounding our utmost view, is the dim outline of the 
Pacific Ocean. "Grand! magnificent! glorious!" and like excla- 
mations burst from each, and you feel repaid for all the dangers 
through which you have passed. We descend the mountain into 
the beautiful Kapa Valley, pass a number of vineyards and wine- 
houses, in which the beverage is stored, but as we Avere all temper- 
ance people we did not stop to sample it. By evening we reach 
Fossville, where resides Clark Foss, the famous stage-driver of the 
Pacific coast. He is a large niuscular man, six feet high and weighs 
240 pounds. He has been driving stage for about twenty-five 
years, and has the reputation of being the best "whip" on the 
coast. He knows how to keep a hotel, too, and tired and hungry 
as we were, we enjoyed the excellent supper he set before us, and 
the clean spring-beds which were enough of themselves to invite 
sleep. Foss is a character, and entertained us with quaint descrip- 
tions of people he had driven, showed us his horses and stages, and 
promised to drive us to Calistoga in the morning. The breakfast, 
under the skillful manipulations of Mrs. Foss, like the supper, was 
so appetizing that you couldn't help enjoy it, after which we were 
ready for the drive. 

The parson and your correspondent were accorded the seats of 
honor alongside the driver. Gathering up the lines in one hand 
with a firm grip, he gave the long-lashed whip a peculiar twirl, and 
we heard an explosion like that of a pistol. The horses started at a 
brisk trot, and we bade adieu to Fossville and settled ourselves for 
a lively ride. Foss' horses know their driver and obey his every 
word. When a favorable stretch of road was reached, he called 
out ' ' Shake ! Shake one ! ' ' and away they flew into a rapid run for 
about half a mile. "Down," came the word from our driver, and 
in an instant the running gate is changed to a trot. " Way down, " 
again exclaims Foss, and the horses come to a walk. It is truly 
wonderful how he has his horses under command; and he assured 
us that you cannot do anything with a horse until you have gained 
his love. That seems to be the secret of his command over his 



64 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

horses. Suddenly we came to a tree standing in the middle of the 
road, and before we knew it the stage and four were flying around 
it in a circle. Again he circled around the tree, turning the stage 
and four horses in a circle of less than thirty feet diameter. It is 
six and a half miles from Foss' to Calistoga, and we drove it in 
thirty-one minutes, having seen some of Foss' driving, which is 
truly marvelous. 

At Calistoga we took the cars for Vallejo, passing through St. 
Helena, a famous summer resort and sanitary town, and through 
Napa, the county seat, famous for its college for young ladies. 
Large fields covered with grape vines line either side of the road. 
The vines are not permitted to grow to a greater height than four 
or five feet, are tied to a stake and the entire growth forced into the 
fruit. On the train we met one of the largest vintners in the State, 
who makes 225,000 gallons of wine annually. He told us that 
eighteen years ago there was but one vineyard of ten acres in the 
Napa Valley. Last year, in Napa county alone, there were 2,000,- 
000 gallons of wine made. It requires thirteen pounds of grapes 
to make one gallon of wine, and the wine is sold at from 32 to 75 cents 
per gallon. Very little of it is sold less than a year old, and much 
is stored from five to ten years, which greatly increases the price. 
Land in the Napa Valley sells from $60 to $150 per acre, and hill- 
side from $10 to $50 per acre. 

Near Napa we get a fine view of the State Insane Asylum, which 
is a series of large quadrilateral buildings, and where, we were 
informed, those unfortunate persons are very kindly cared for. 
There is another similar institution at Stockton. By nine o'clock 
we reached Vallejo, where we took the boat down the bay, and 
were landed at the wharf, and were back to our comfortable hotel 
by noon, greatly delighted with our trip to the Geysers. 

In going to the Geysers you can go by either of these routes, but 
we say, go by one and return by the other, as the fare is only two 
dollars more. 



ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 65 

NUMBER TEN. 

ON THE OCEAN— SEA SICKNESS— SANTA BARBARA— COL,. HOL.- 
I^ISTER'S RANCH— ALONG THE COAST. 

San Francisco, July 11, 1879. 

On Thursday, June 26th, we left San Francisco on board the Pa- 
cific Coast Steamship Company's steamer, The Senator, for a trip 
down the coast. By eight o'clock some two hundred and fifty pas- 
sengers had gathered on board, a large majority of whom were our 
tourists. The signal was given, the steamer loosed from her moor- 
ings, and swung out into the beautiful San Francisco Bay. We 
steamed past the shipping in the harbor, passed Fort Alcatraz with. 
its frowning guns, and out through the Golden Gate on to the broad 
bosom of the trackless Pacific ocean. The passengers were on deck 
to get a view of the bay and the Golden Gate, but as we crossed 
the bar the vessel was pitched and tossed on the waves so that many 
of them were glad to get indoors, while many others began to show 
signs of weakening. It wasn't very long before the cabins, deck and 
saloon were full of passengers, who, like the Frenchman, "didn't 
care whether the porter took his boots, his hat, his coat, his every- 
thing, forheknewhe would never want them any more." A more dis- 
tressed-looking crowd I have never seen. 

When twelve o'clock arrived, and lunch was announced, there 
were only about fifty out of the two hundred and fifty, to respond 
to the announcement. Your correspondent wouldn't and didn't get 
sick, much to the disappointment of some of his friends. The sick 
were handsomely serenaded by one of the tourists. Seeing a hand 
organ on deck, he secured it, and strapping it over his shoulder, 
made the circuit of the vessel, grinding out the melodious music to 
the infinite amusement of even the sick. Others held their hats, 
but the musician was not rewarded, I am sorry to say. 

The day was a delightful one, and those who were well enough 
enjoyed it greatly. On our left was the coast, with its range of 
mountains, along which we skirted at a respectful distance, while 



AGB088 THE CONTINENT. 



on our rigtit stretched the great Pacific, until sea and sky seemed to 
meet. 

About mid-day, away off to our right, we saw the spouting of a 
whale, the water rising in two columns to quite a height. The 
captain informed us that this was not an infrequent thing. The por- 
poises occasionally came near our vessel and tossed themselves in 
the air, and at one time quite a school of them was seen. 

In the afternoon we reached Santa Cruz, famous as a watering 
place, where our boat stopped to discharge part of her cargo and 
take on more freight. We had an opportunity of going ashore, tak- 
ing a look at the town, or that part of it to be seen along the beach, 
and permit some of the passengers to gather shells and moss. The 
vessel then steered across Monterey Bay direct for Monterey, near 
which the Sunday-school Assembly was held. We reached Monte- 
rey by six o'clock in the evening, where some two hundred of our 
passengers landed, glad that they could again set foot on terrd firma, 
and some of them inwardly vowing they would never again ''sail 
the ocean blue." 

We pushed out from land, and headed the vessel for the south, 
bound for Santa Barbara, two hundred and eighty-eight miles from 
San Francisco, and famous as a great sanitary resort, especially for 
those afflicted with pulmonary diseases. San Louis Obispo, and 
other ports are passed during the night, and the next afternoon we 
passed Point Conception light-house, and then turned directly east, 
as you will see by looking at the map. Those who had been sick 
were now well over it, and we had a pleasant and merry company, 
who greatly enjoyed the voyage. About nine o'clock at night we 
reached Santa Barbara, and were met at the wharf by George S. 
Bowman, Esq., a young attorney of Lebanon, who is now there for 
his health. We went at once to the Arlington, which we found to 
be a large and comfortable hotel. The town is pleasantly located 
and has a population of about 6,000. Near the town is the Old 
Mission, established more than a hundred years ago. The walls 
are of adobe brick, very thick, and the buildings are in good state 
of preservation. The chapel has a number of old paintings, some 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 67 

of which, they claim, are by old masters, while others are nothing 
but daubs. The ceiling was frescoed by the Indians and is quite 
artistic, when we remember who did it. There are a number of 
buildings occupied by the monks, into several of which we ven- 
tured, and found them quite comfortable. They were at vesper 
service when we arrived, and we found that they had left an interest- 
ing game of chess to engage in prayer. We were sorely tempted to 
change the position of some of the men, but forbore, mindful of the 
pleasure they were having. We were told that attached to the 
church was a large corral, into which they used to get the Indians, 
keep them until they had christianized them by sprinkling with 
holy water, and then turn them out, or put them to work. 

Through the kindness of Mr. Bowman and his friend Mr. Bagg, 
we were driven to the countrj^, and had the pleasure of seeing Col. 
Hollister's famous ranche of 60,000 acres. He has large orchards 
of almond, English walnut, orange, lemon, lime, olive and apricot 
trees, besides other fruits in great variety. His apricots were just 
ripe, and the trees were bending under their weight of fruit. They 
hung in clusters, much like bunches of grapes. We were shown 
some strawberry plants, and ate some of the berries, that were 
planted last December. In January, one mouth later, they were in 
blossom, and in February they fruited, two months after planting. 
They were the "Monarch of the West," very large and of fine 
flavor. We saw also some apple trees in fruit and blossom at the 
same time. On his ranche there are rare tropical and semi-tropical 
plants, which do exceedingly well. The Japanese persimmon is 
quite a curiosity. The trees were not more than four feet high, and 
the persimmons when ripe weigh from one-half to three-quarters of 
a pound each. 

The climate of Santa Barbara is wonderful, and not only beneficial 
for invalids, but excellent for vegetation. Roses are in bloom the 
year round, and our annual plants there become perennial. We saw 
some melon vines on Col. Hollister's ranche that were planted four 
years ago, and they were bearing this season. Potatoes, we were 
told by a reliable gentleman, grow and bear for four years, when 



68 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

the vines die as if from exhaustion. From Col. Hollister's we drove 
over to Mr. Bagg's ranche, where we rested for several hours, and 
had an elegant lunch. Here is where our friend, Mr. Bowman, is 
stopping, and it is a most delightful place. The temperature at 
noonday was seventy degrees, while the nights are sufficiently cool 
for blankets. The ranche is located at the head of a canyon, and 
from the verandah you have a magnificent view of the ocean and a 
portion of Santa Cruz island. The California quail and other game 
are very abundant, and as we drove to the ranche a fine, large deer, 
with head erect, bounded across the road in front of us, and went 
flying up the mountain out of sight. 

The boats do not run daily to and from Santa Barbara. We 
reached it on Friday, and the Senator returned again on Saturday 
evening. As we wanted to get to the Monterey Assembly, we were 
obliged to return by the Senator, thus limiting our visit to this 
delightful place. 

On our return from the country, we found the steamer lying at 
the wharf. Bidding adieu to friends who had determined to remain 
until the following Thursday, we stepped aboard, and soon after 
were steaming away from the town. When night came on, twenty- 
four miles distant, we saw the light from Point Conception flashing 
out its danger signal, and directing the mariner how to steer his 
vessel. 

We stop at Cayucos, from which port the people of Lompoc 
ship their goods. Lompoc is a temperance community two hun- 
dred and sixty miles south of San Francisco. The community was 
started four years ago, and now has a population of about 2,000. 
The land was bought by a company, and in selling to settlers it is 
stipulated in the deeds that no liquor is to be sold or manufactured 
on the premises. They have no policemen and there are no arrests 
for drunken or disorderly conduct. 

The crops raised are barley, beans, potatoes and squashes. Beans 
yield an average of one and a half to one and three-quarter tons to 
the acre, and bring about $30 per ton. The average potato yield is 
200 bushels to the acre, and bring about twenty -five cents a bushel. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 69 

Squashes will yield thirty tons to the acre, and are raised for feed- 
ing and fattening hogs. The mangel-wurzel beet will produce fifty 
tons to the acre, and are used as food for stock. Single beets will 
grow to an enormous size, weighing as much as one hundred 
pounds. These figures may seem an exaggeration, but they were 
given me as reliable by a gentleman whom I met on the boat, and 
were subsequently corroborated by another with whom I conversed, 
and whom I know to be a person of veracity. 

We had a delightful sail to Monterey, which we reached on 
Monday morning. 

The Senator is a staunch vessel, commanded by Captain W. E. 
Plummer, a genial, gentlemanly person, who tries to make all his 
passengers comfortable, looks after their wants and gives them all 
possible information. He never swears and does not permit any of 
the men under him to use profane language. We parted from him 
reluctantly, and can assure our readers that if they ever fall into the 
captain's hands they will be most kindly cared for. The mate, the 
purser, the steward, and all, seem to partake of the nature of the 
commander, and were exceedingly pleasant. 

Long may "the gallant captain of the Senator" continue to "sail 
the ocean blue." 



NUMBER ELEVEN. 

MONTEREY— THE OLD MISSION— THE ASSEMBLY— SAN 

jose— almaden quicksilver mine. 

Davisville, Cal., July 14, 1879. 
On Monday morning, June 30th, our steamer drew alongside the 
wharf at Monterey, and we stepped ashore. Monterey is, perhaps, 
the oldest town in the State, and has an advantage over any other 
town that we saw\ When it was built, — well, they finished it, for 
there have been no improvements since. The streets run in every 
imaginable irregular way, as though some monster hand had held 
them up over the town and dropped them down, as children do 



70 ACE 088 THE CONTINENT. 

jack-straws. Along these streets the old adobe houses were built, 
and many of them were inclosed by high walls covered with tiles. 
The town has several hundred houses, but none of modern con- 
struction. It has one Protestant church (Episcopal), which will 
hold two hundred people. The Catholic church is a fine adobe 
building, built in 1794, similar in construction to all the old 
Catholic churches of that period, being quite long and narrow, with 
Indian frescoing. The bay is large, and there is quite a fine 
stretch of beach. The town dates back to 1603, when Viscaino, a 
Mexican navigator, first landed in the harbor, and held worship. 
His expedition was sent out by the Count de Monterey, Viceroy of 
Mexico, and he named the place in honor of the Viceroy. On the 
3d of July, 1770, the Franciscan fathers landed at Monterey and 
established their mission in a beautiful valley, about four miles 
from the site of the present town. The spot where they landed and 
held worship is marked by a large wooden cross, bearing the^date. 

Monterey was the first capital of the State of California, and the 
first town over which the American flag was hoisted when Commo- 
dore Sloat took possession of the country in the name of the United 
States. He was at Mazatlan, and on the 31st of May, 1846, heard 
of General Taylor^s victories at Palo Alto and Kesaca de la Palma, 
on the 8th and 9th of the same month. He waited a week for the 
confirmation of the news, and then set sail for Monterey, reaching 
there July 1st. The people were becoming impatient of Mexican 
rule, and the country was ready for a change of government. Eng- 
land looked longingl}^ toward California, and waited only a fitting 
opportunity to seize the prize. Gen. Fremont was in the country 
with a small exploring expedition. He had several disputes with the 
local authorities, and on the 14th of June, 1846, some of his command, 
aided by volunteers, captured the town of Sonoma. Leaving a 
small garrison. Gen. Fremont moved into the San Joaquin Valley, 
and was on his way toward Oregon when Com. Sloat arrived in 
Monterey harbor. He spent a week in consultation with the 
authorities of the town, and on the 7th of July, 1846, he landed his 
forces, hoisted the American flag, and took possession of the coun- 
try. Eight days afterward the English ship of war, Collingwood, 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 71 

commanded by Admiral Seymour, came into the harbor, when the 
admiral discovered that the prize for which they had been looking 
and planning, had fallen into the hands of the Americans. The 
old building over which the flag was hoisted is still standing, and 
on the Fourth of July, when we left Monterey, the stars and stripes 
were floating from the flagstaff". 

The building in which the first Legislature met is an old adobe, 
two stories, and is in a rickety condition. The State-house, built 
later, is now used as the public school building. The Old Mission, 
built by the Franciscan fathers in 1770-71, is in a beautiful valley 
across the mountain, and commands a magnificent view of the 
ocean. The buildings inclosed a number of acres, but nothing 
but ruins remain. A portion of the walls are still standing; 
the tower and belfry remain, but their glory have long since 
departed. The bell is now used by the church in Monterey, while 
the old pictures which formerly hung in the Mission, adorn its 
walls. On the walls we saw this inscription, by an unknown 
hand: 

" Change and decay on every hand I see : 

O thou who changest not, abide, abide with me." 

Two miles from Monterey, along the Pacific ocean, is a beautiful 
grove, which has been nicely fitted up as a camp ground by the 
Methodists. There are some nice cottages, a number of canvas 
and board tents, a store, postoffice, and a large, comfortable parlor, 
with Brussels carpet, open fire-place, with a cheerful log fire, and 
comfortable chairs. On the walls, in letf^'s of evergreen, were the 
words, "The Pacific greets the Atlantic," and "Welcome." 
About a mile distant, on a point of land, is the Monterey light- 
house, a substantial stone building with its revolving light as a 
beacon to the seafaring. Several miles distant are Moss Beach, 
Point Lopos, Cypress Point, and other places of interest, along 
which many wandered, gathering moss, abalone, sea-urchin, and 
other marine shells. It was a grand sight to sit on the rocks and 
watch the ebb and flow of the ocean. The waves w^ould hurl them- 
selves against the rocks with a crashing noise, only to be broken 



72 ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 

into foam. The words of Tennyson's poem involuntarily came to 
mind: 

" Break, break, break. 

On thy cold, grey stones, O sea ! 
And I would that my heart could utter 
The thoughts that arise In me." 

Here, with the ocean mingling its ceaseless roar with the songs 
and praises of the people, is where the Sunday School Assembly 
was held, conducted by the Revs. Drs. Vincent and Peltz. 

The Assembly began Friday evening, June 27th, but I did not 
reach the ground until the Monday following. On Monday we had 
normal instruction in Bible History and Geograph}^ by the Rev. Dr. 
Yincent, and Bible Construction by the Rev. Dr. Feltz, a temperance 
meeting, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Briggs, of San Francisco, and a 
conversation on a Good Sunday-school Programme, lead by the Rev. 
Dr. Willey of Santa Cruz. In the evening Dr. Vincent lectured on 
" New Departures." The lecture was full of advanced ideas. He 
suggested graduating the children out of the Sunday-school at 
fifteen j'ears of age, and putting them with the men and women 
into a department to be called the Assembly. Let this be a place 
of culture and advancement; provide for a course of study and 
reading, and have week-day services as well as Sunday services. 
Provide books and papers full of helpfulness and healthfulness, and 
the boys and girls will not drift away from the school nor have 
time for crowding their minds with the pernicious literature thrown 
out by the secular press. The lecture was full of excellent thoughts 
and suggestions, but my limited space will not admit of even a 
condensed report. 

Tuesday we had a lecture on the "Uses of the Bible and Bible 
Helps," by the Rev. H. H. Rice, of Sacramento, secretary of the 
Association. He spoke of the progress of Bible science, as being 
equal with material science — we must progress if we would be 
worthy of our vocation as teachers — of the advancement made in 
the study of the Greek and Hebrew texts, and the great labor 
expended in getting the very best translations. He urged the study 
■of the Scriptures, first as a Christian, and then as a teacher, sug- 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 73 

gesting that the teacher have a general comprehensive knowledge 
of the Book. Other gentlemen spoke on the same subject, which 
was one of interest. Other lectures and addresses filled in the day. 
In the evening Dr. Vincent held a delightful service by the sea, 
and at night delivered his lecture on "That Boy." No one can 
report it, for the earnestness, the tender tone of voice, the capital 
hits, and the excellent advice, cannot be put on paper. It must be 
heard. 

"Wednesday and Thursday were days of good solid Sunday-school 
work, conducted by Dr. Peltz, Dr. Vincent being obliged to leave 
for home. Addresses on various topics w^ere delivered by Dr. 
Wythe, Prof. Norton, Dr. Gibson, president of the Association, 
Dr. Bentley, Rev. A. S. Fiske, Dr. Peltz and others. Dr. Peltz 
spoke on Primary Classes. He said he much preferred the name 
Primary Classes to that of Infant Classes. He urged that teachers 
should have respect to the physical necessities of the primary 
scholars. They should have bright, light, cheerful rooms with 
good seats, and plenty of air. The scholars are full of vital energy, 
and cannot be quiet very long. Their muscles should be brought 
into play in an orderly manner. This can be done by having them 
rise up to sing, having marching songs, in which they march in an 
orderly way up and down the aisles. If they are given good 
physical exercise you will not have to beg of them to keep quiet. He 
suggested that the best teachers should be employed as primary 
class teachers. He also urged care in the language used. Use no 
stilted phrases, but remember that they are accustomed to the 
language of home, and talk to them in a sensible way. Do not 
attempt to overstrain the truth. Have respect to their spiritual 
condition. Remember they all need to believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and that these little ones can and do love him. He preferred 
that the primary school be divided into classes. 

On Wednesday evening Joseph Cook lectured on "Certainties in 
Religion." It is a pleasure to listen to him, as his lectures are 
packed full of thought, and he gives no uncertain sound. He 
charms his audience by his earnest words, and holds them closely 



74 . ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

to his line of argument for full two hours. The secular press 
of San Francisco abused him shamefully for his pronounced views 
on the Chinese question, but he stands deservedly high with the 
Christian community. 

On Thursday evening there was a platform meeting, when 
addresses were made by a number of persons from the East and 
West, the farewell words were spoken, and the Assembly closed. 

On Friday morning, July 4, we left Monterey, in company with 
Dr. Peltz, passing through the pleasant town of Salinas, where we 
stopped an hour, and then through the Salinas Valley to San Jose, 
where we left Dr. Peltz to pursue his journey to San Francisco, 
while we stopped over for a few days. 

San Jose is one of the most beautiful towns I have seen in Cali- 
fornia, or, for that matter, anywhere. It has a population of about 
15,000, has fine large streets, beautifully shaded, large business 
houses, and elegant private residences with beautiful grounds. 
There is an air of wealth and comfort about the place, and it looks 
as if the inhabitants expected to live here forever, so nicely have 
they fixed up their homes. 

Santa Clara is three miles distant, and is connected with San 
Jose by street railways, one of which leads through the Ala- 
meda (The Beautiful Way), an avenue probably two hundred feet 
wide, shaded with magnificent trees. Santa Clara is almost a coun- 
terpart of San Jose. Here is the old Catholic mission church, built 
of adobe bricks, with walls fully four feet thick. The Jesuit Col- 
lege is also located in Santa Clara, the buildings and grounds inclos- 
ing eleven acres. Through the kindness of the chaplain. Father 
Leggia, I was shown through the various departments. The library 
contains 14,000 volumes, and is properly classified, containing books 
on religion, philosophy, history, politics, etc. Connected with the 
college is a business department, in which the students are taught 
banking, telegraphing, and all the various forms of business. There 
is also a large laboratory for the chemical students, a complete set 
of philosophical apparatus, a senate and house of representatives, in 
which the students are taught debating and parliamentary rules, 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 75 

and where laws are enacted, a chapel for the students, and a theatre 
which will hold 2,000 persons. They have a full orchestra, a brass 
band, and the students give private theatricals, to which their 
friends are invited. The students are not permitted outside the in- 
closure, and can only see their parents once a month. 

Twelve miles south of San Jose is the Almaden Quicksilver Mine, 
owned by a New York company. They have seven furnaces, with 
a capacity for roasting 100 tons of ore daily. The ore is very rich 
in quicksilver, but the managers declined to give the percentage of 
metal to a ton. The ore is put into large furnaces, the mercury is 
driven off by heat, and passing through a series of condensers, runs 
into receivers, and is then put into large iron flasks, each holding 
76^ pounds of mercury. They have a capacity for making 3,000 
flasks monthly, and in June last shipped 1,600 flasks. They employ 
500 men, who are paid $2.25 a day when working at the furnaces, 
and 82.00 a day when working in the yard. They work one month 
at the furnaces and one month in the yard, so as to prevent saliva- 
tion, which frequently occurs. Sometimes they are so badly sali- 
vated that they cannot raise a hand to their mouths. Sulphur baths 
and a resort to the mountains are the remedies used. 

There is a beautiful drive out Santa Clara street to the Alum Rock 
and Springs. The road is wide, smooth as a board, and for a dis- 
tance of several miles is shaded with fine trees. It is six miles to the 
springs, which are up a canyon, whose rocky walls are shaded with 
oaks and pines. There are some half-dozen springs of alum, soda, 
iron and sulphur water, with their various combinations. Alum 
rock is about half a mile from the springs, and is said to contain a 
large percentage of alum. Leaving the springs we drove to the top 
of the hill, on which is located the fine residence of Gen. Smith, 
commanding a magnificent view of the Santa Clara Valley. 

Fifty miles distant lies the bay of San Fancisco, shining in the 
noon-day sun like a sheet of burnished silver. The valley stretches 
out for miles before us, its brown fields relieved by patches of green, 
while almost at our feet is San Jose with its avenues of trees and 
variously-colored houses. 



76 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

Near San Jose is Mt. Hamilton, where James Licl^ has directed 
an observatory to be built at a cost of half a million dollars. 

As I said, it was the Fourth of July when I reached San Jose. 
The people celebrated it with quite a grand display. They had a tour- 
nament in which brave (?) knights clad in armor contended with each 
other for the privilege of crowning the queen of love and beauty, 
and a sham battle with all the pageantry of war. As a result, one 
man was killed by the premature explosion of a cannon, and another 
poor fellow had both hands blown off. It was a sad ending of the 
glorious Fourth, and cast a gloom over the community. 

Through the kindness of the Rev, Dr. Calhoun, of the United Pres- 
byterian Church, I had a drive around the city and visited the fine 
grounds and residence of Gen. Naglee. His grounds enclose about 
twenty-five acres within the city limits, are beautifully laid out, and 
contain trees and shrubbery of various kinds. The general is a na- 
tive Pennsylvanian, a gentleman of the old school, and very hospit- 
able. He has pronounced views on the Chinese question, and thinks 
they are the best laborers that can be employed. Several years 
ago about $75,000 worth of his property was destroyed by an incen- 
diary fire because he would not discharge his Chinese laborers. 

On Monday afternoon I took the cars for San Francisco, passing 
through Menlo Park, where the railroad and bonanza kings have 
their summer residences. It is a beautiful place, with its fine green 
lawns full of floM'ers, shrubbery and handsome residences, some of 
which cost $100,000 and upwards. By four o'clock we are in San 
Francisco, where we expect to spend a few days before turning our 
faces eastward. 



ACB0S8 THE CONTINENT. 77 

NUMBER TWELVE. 

CALIFORNIA— THE PEOPLE— GOOD-BYE— DAVISVILLE— 

FARMING— HARVESTING— LAKE TAHOE— OFF 

FOR VIRGINIA. 

Virginia City, July 16, 1879. 

California is a wonderful State, rich in its mineral, agricultural 
and commercial wealth. The Californians are proud of their State, 
and enthusiastic in its praise, and no wonder. With its grand 
mountains rearing their lofty snow-clad summits until they seem 
to pierce the sky; with a valley whose granite walls stretch them- 
selves heavenward nearly a mile, whose waterfalls are thousands 
of feet high, and whose grandeur is the wonder and admiration of 
the world; with a climate so delightful that the extreme heat of 
summer and the chilling blasts of winter are both unknown — a 
climate so invigorating and healthful that invalids rapidly gain 
strength, and not unfrequently are restored to health; with an 
extent of territory so great, that its shores for more than four 
hundred miles are washed by the Pacific ocean; with its cloudless, 
rainless skies from April to October, and its soil withal so produc- 
tive that its fruits and cereals astonish the world. No wonder the 
Californian grows enthusiastic over his State and is loud in its 
praise. His pride is pardonable. 

A gentleman, who has resided in the State some years, said to 
me you will find that here in California 

" Wealth makes the man, and want of it the fellow," 
if for once I may change Pope. This may be true as to a certain 
class who look upon money as the potent and essential thing to 
give them a passport to society. We didn't find it so. Tlie nature 
of our excursion was such as to throw us at once among the Chris- 
tian people of the State. Coming among them as entire strangers, 
they at once opened their hearts and homes and bid us a cordial wel- 
come, and entertained us right royally. Now,here have I ever met with 
a more open-handed, generous and hospitable people than in Califor- 



78 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

nia. This seems to be a characteristic of the people, for Mr. Hittell, 
in his "Eesources of California," says: "It is perhaps partly on ac- 
count of their State pride that Galifornians are cordial and hospita- 
ble. They want travelers to carry away good impressions of the 
country. The hospitality of the Galifornians is in keeping with 
their general mode of life. * * * They have traveled 
enough to know how to entertain and to accept entertainment." 

The parson and your correspondent had an invitation to spend 
some time in the Sacramento Valley and take a look at California 
farming. On Saturday morning, July 12th, we bade good bye to 
San Francisco, he going by the overland route to Stockton, where 
he expected to see his brother, and your correspondent and a young 
lady, who was also to be a guest at the ranche, by way of Vallejo. 

Taking the boat, we were soon steaming up the beautiful bay 
aw^ay from the city, and a few hours after were safely lan^ded at 
Vallejo, where we took the cars and passed through a portion of the 
magnificent Kapa Valley. Suddenly, without warning, w^e were 
plunged into darkness, and a few minutes thereafter emerge from 
the tunnel into daj^light. We have passed through the Coast Range 
mountains, and from the Napa into the Sacramento Valley. At 
eleven o'clockwe reachDavisville, thirteen miles west of Sacramento, 
and were met at the train by Mr. Greene, and driven five miles to his 
ranche. His farm contains nearly thirteen hundred acres, he main- 
taining that it is about as much land as one man can conveniently 
and profitably manage. His house is nicely located, surrounded 
with fine shade trees, and from the verandah you have a view of a 
portion of Sacramento and the State Capitol buildings, thirteen 
miles distant. We had an opportunity here of testing California 
hospit9,lity to its utmost. We spent several days very pleasantly in 
this Christian home, and shall not forget the kindness of our host 
and hostess. 

The San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys are the great grain- 
growing region, and farming is carried on more extensively here 
than in any other portiQn of the State. The combined valleys are 
about four hundred miles in length and from forty to seventy in 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 79 

width. There are other valleys of note, as the Salinas, Sonoma, 
Santa Clara, Napa, and others, but none so large as these. 

The principal cereals raised are wheat and barley, corn not doing 
well because of the dry climate! Whenever the ground is ready the 
farmer can sow his wheat, though it will not sprout until the autumn 
rains moisten the ground. The wheat will lie in the ground unin- 
jured, as there is no danger to the seed. The farmers have discov- 
ered that a small quantity of blue vitriol mixed with the seed grain 
will prevent rust, and all seed is thus prepared before sowing. The 
vitriol is dissolved in water and mixed with the grain. 
We had an opportunity of seeing the harvesters at work. 
The grain is nearly all cut with a header — a machine that cuts the 
heads and about four inches of the stalk, leaving the straw on the 
field, which is then burned. From the header it is hauled to the 
thresher, which stands in the field, and is threshed and sacked ready 
for the market. It is no unusual thing to see large piles of grain in 
sacks out in the open field. The farmer takes it to his store-house 
when he gets time, for he does not fear rain. 

Steam threshers are used to a considerable extent, but as there is 
great danger from fire where everything is so dry, they are at a dis- 
count with many faraiers. We saw one field which was burned 
over and the grain destroyed by a spark from one of these machines. 
Thirteen hundred bushels is a day's threshing, and as the sacks hold 
about two and a half bushels, and are sewed shut, the sewer has 
very little time for looking about him. 

The wheat yield, I was told, would average about thirty bushels 
to the acre. Four years ago, on Mr, Greene's farm, the average 
was forty-six and a half bushels. The average yield of barley is 
fifty bushels, though they occasionally get as much as eighty 
bushels to the acre. Mr. J. Bryant Hill, residing in the Salinas 
Valley, a few years ago raised one hundred and forty -seven and a 
half bushels of barley to the acre, but this was an exceptional yield. 
While we were at the ranche they did a big day's work, threshing 
and sacking nineteen hundred and fifty bushels of barley in nine 
hours with a horse-power machine. It was an extraordinary 



80 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

day's work. A large derrick is erected over the raachine, to which 
pulleys are attached, and four horses work two large forks which 
carry the grain to the man who feeds the machine, while the straw 
is taken from the machine by a boy and horse. 

Tuesday evening, July 15th, we took the train at Davisville, bid- 
ding adieu to California and the friends whom we had met, and 
bearing their kind wishes for a safe journey. The next morning we 
are waked on the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and 
catch a glimpse of Donner Lake, reflecting the mountains in its 
mirror-like surface. We speed down the grade, around the "mule 
shoe," and are safely landed at Truckee from which place we take 
the stage for the beautiful lake Tahoe. 

The distance from Truckee to the lake is fourteen miles. The 
road leads along the Truckee river through the mountains, and is 
beautiful. The morning is bright and clear, and the air redolent 
with the odor of the pines. At every turn, something new Is un- 
folded before you. Here a snow-capped mountain, there a dashing 
waterfall or a series of foaming cascades, then a rude mountain 
cabin with chubby children, who stop their swinging and their play 
to look at the passing stage, while again, farther on, some bold 
mountain peak comes prominently into view exposing its jagged, 
rocky side, when a sudden turn discloses a beautiful little valley, 
which seems to be playing hide-and-seek among these grand tower- 
ing mountains. 

At length we reach Tahoe City, containing less than a dozen 
houses, and before us, in its surpassing loveliness, bright, dazzling, 
beautiful, is Lake Tahoe, its soomth surface not rippled by a 
breeze. Two States claim ownership to the lake, as though it were 
too beautiful for one to monopolize. The State line between Cali- 
fornia and Nevada passes through it. 

It is seven thousand feet above the sea, about twenty miles long 
and about half as broad, and looks like a great basin of molten sil- 
ver, with the mountains, from three to four thousand feet high, for 
the rim. Beautiful! Magnificent! Grand! We might exhaust the 
list of adjectives and they would fail to decsribe it. You look into 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 81 

it, and, at a depth of fifty feet, see the bottom as plainly as though 
it were but five feet, while great speckled trout lounge lazily sun- 
ning themselves, or dart oflF in search of food. Sail across its clear 
bosom, and it changes continually like a chameleon. 

Now it is dark indigo-blue; then again it is alight green; and 
again it is a clear white. The little steamer plows its way through 
the water, and the waves roll from its sides as if it was a sea of oil . 
The mountains are reflected in it as in a mirror, and its ever-chang- 
ing color makes it marvelously beautiful. 

The Niagara, a little steamer that looks more like a toy for chil- 
dren than a vessel to carry passengers, makes the circuit of the lake. 
We step aboard, the ropes are cast ofi", and we glide over the smooth 
surface of the water. The pulsations of the engine send a shiver 
through every timber of the little craft, but it scuds along over the 
water, and, charmed by the magnificent scenery, you are unmind- 
ful of the fact that the lake is eighteen hundred feet deep, and 
only a two-inch plank between you and the bottom. 

In front of you is Job's Peak, 10,000 feet high, while on its right 
is Mount Tallac, 11,000 feet, its summit crowned with perpetual 
snow. To your right is Tinker's Nob, a cone-shaped rock, lifting 
its head 500 feet above the crest of the mountain. 

We make the circuit of the lake, forty-four miles, and are landed 
at Glenbrook, where we take dinner, and are ready for a stage ride 
to Carson, the capital of Nevada. 

Hank Monk, the driver who gave good old Horace Greeley his 
famous ride, can hardly wait for the passengers to get aboard. We 
have the stage held until we take a look at Shakspeare Rock, on 
which there is a fine head of the famous poet — so say those who 
knew him. We take their word for it, not having had the pleasure 
of his acquaintance. It is a perfect picture of somebody, and why 
not Shakspeare ? Hank's patience is almost exhausted, and we 
bound into the stage and are off over the mountains, not caring to 
look down into the deep gorges along which we climb. Dust! 
Don't talk about it. for when you get to Carson you find that it isn't 
"all in your eye." Your eyes, your throat, your clothes — in fact 
everything is full of it. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



Here we take the cars for Virginia City, the famous mining re- 
gion of Nevada. The road winds around the mountafns and is as 
crooked as a cork-screw. We pass a number of stamping mills, see 
a number of claims that have been prospected and staked off, pass 
through the town of Gold Hill, which you hardly see until you are 
on it, and where they now get only silver, and at last you are in 
Virginia City, which is built on the side of the mountain, about 
two thousand feet from the top and about the same distance from 
the bottom. Its streets run up the mountain and along its sides, 
and you climb with some difficulty two squares from the depot to 
the International Hotel, which is seven stories in front and five in 
the rear. After dining at eight o'clock you step out to see the city, 
but don't want to walk far over these hilly streets. It is growing 
late, too, and you have had a day's hard traveling, so you bid good- 
night to all the world and wait for morning to see the city and the 
mines. 



NUMBER THIRTEEN. 

virginia city— churches— down in a gold mine- 
stamping— amalgamating— assaying. 

Denver, July 21, 1879. 
"In early life Virginia City married a silver mountain and has 
wonderfully thriven since." Mountains crowd around it and are 
piled up in all directions. In the rear of the city Mount David- 
son rises above its streets and houses to the height of a third 
of a mile, while away below the city, two thousand feet more, is 
the bottom of a canyon suggesting a possible way out to the open 
country. The city claims a population of about 25,000, fully one- 
half of whom live under the ground most of their time. It has 
some fine buildings, handsome stores which do a large business, 
and in which the goods are temptingly displayed for admiring 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 83 

Virginians; several substantial bank buildings with elegant and 
commodious quarters for the officers and clerks, and great safes 
with ponderous doors which seem to smile complacently at would- 
be burglars and say, "We defy you." There are also numerous 
faro banks, how many I cannot tell, where the natives " fight the 
tiger" and do not come from the encounter without a scratch. 
These faro banks are not kept in some inaccessible place with 
barred and bolted door through which you cannot enter without 
assuring the porter, who peeps through the slide, that you are a 
"friend." We saw two of them in successful operation in one of 
the public rooms of the best hotel in the city. 

Stock gambling is also carried on to a fearful extent. Many of 
the women, along with the men, having caught the mania, invest 
their little all in the hope of a rise and a fortune. 

In October, 1875, a lire swept the city from end to end, destroying 
$10,000,000 of property, including all the mining works. Within 
sixty days all the principal mines had renewed their works, and 
within six months the city was rebuilt. In order to guard against 
a similar disaster an abundance of water has been introduced, 
brought thirty-one miles from Marlette's Lake, in the Sierras, at a 
cost of $2,000,000. But remember this water was brought for pro- 
tection against fire, and is not the regular beverage of the average 
Virginian, as is evidenced by the numerous saloons seen every- 
where, which are well patronized. 

Religion is at a great discount here. The Presbyterians, Metho- 
dists and Baptists are represented, but neither church " does much 
business." A minister informed us that there were not more than 
two hundred religious people in the entire community, and he was 
quite sure he did not under-estimate it. In the morning when the 
gospel is preached, there is "a beggarly account of empty benches" 
in all the churches. In the evening some of»the preachers deliver 
sensational sermons, taking such subjects as "old maids," "old 
bachelors," and the like, and of course they then have crowded 
houses. 

It was to see Virginia and its mines, to go down into their deepest 
depths and explore their subterranean passages, to see the gold and 



84 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

silver bearing quartz, and the manner of separating the gold and 
silver from it, that took us to this metropolis of the young State of 
Nevada. We went, we saw, and we came away bearing in our 
pockets and in our hands the precious auriferous silver quartz, worth 
thousands of dollars a ton, thanks to the gentlemanly managers of 
the Consolidated Virginia and Savage mines. We want to tell you 
how it is mined and worked. Please, then, go with us down in a 
gold mine. 

We were armed with a letter from Mr. Fish, President of the Con- 
solidated Virginia, which had been transferred to us by our good 
brother Peltz, requesting the management to put us on the lowest 
level. As they were repairing a pump, they could not comply with 
the request, but directed us to Col. Gillett, superintendent of the 
Savage mine. He is a fine-looking, gentlemanly man, and if the 
mine is Savage the Colonel isn't. He directed the foreman to put 
us under ground with as much pleasure as relatives do a rich, child- 
less old uncle. We were shown into a side-room, where we arrayed 
ourselves in clothing suitable for the mine. If it wasn't becoming, 
it had the merit of being serviceable. Thus attired, w^e were ready 
for the descent. 

Griving each of us a lantern, we stepped on the platform over the 
mouth of the shaft. We had a rollicking Irishman for guide. 

"Take hold of the railing, and keep your heads inside," he said. 

"Ready," and at a signal from the foreman we felt as if the bot- 
tom of the universe had been knocked from under us, and we were 
dropping through illimitable space. It was a long time before we 
dared draw breath; how long I can't tell, but after an interminable 
time, we heard from out the gloom the cheery voice of our guide, 
and assurance returned. Away we flew; past shafts, past timbers, 
and Oh! how hot it was, as though they had some great furnace at 
the bottom and were going to roast us. At last we were going 
slower, and soon thereafter we stopped, having reached the bottom 
of the perpendicular shaft, 1,380 feet, in less than two minutes [ 
How hot it is! One hundred and ten degrees! Whew! We pant 
for breath and our guide takes us to the air shaft where we are re- 



ACB0S8 THE CONTINENT. 85 

freshed with the cool air. But we are not at tlie bottom. He pulls 
a signal rope and a car comes up. We are to descend 1,120 feet on 
an incline to the bottom of the mine. " Here are some gentlemen 
the Colonel sent down. Take good care of them," says this jovial 
son of Erin. We step into the car, the signal is given, and away 
we fly. "This is the Sutro tunnel," says our ncAV guide, but we 
fly past the opening before he has said it. We reach the bottom, 
2, 000 feet from the surface, and pass off" into the lateral shafts where 
men are at work, then come back into the cooling room, where they 
go for fresh air, and after having explored these lower regions are 
ready for the ascent. 

"Will you let us see the Sutro tunnel? " we ask, as we step into 
the car. 

He will. Away we fly for nearly a thousand feet, when our 
speed begins to slacken, and we stop, leave the car, and step on to 
a platform. 

"Is this the tunnel?" we ask. 

"No. This is our shaft leading into it. See, here is where we 
DOW pump our water," and raising a trap-door we saw the water 
rushing in. 

" Before the completion of the Sutro tunnel we had to pump the 
water to the surface. Now we pump it to the 1,600 feet level, and 
it passes off" through the tunnel. I'll take you there," and leading 
the way through a shaft several hundred yards, along the sides of 
which we could see the gray quartz rock, we came to a large 
opening. Descending about fifteen feet by a ladder, we stood in 
the famous Sutro tunnel running along this Comstock lode, which 
is, perhaps, the richest deposit of gold and silver bearing quartz in 
the world, as much as $23,000,000 having been taken from it in one 
year. The tunnel was made for the purpose of carrying off the 
water from the mines, and cost nearly or quite $5,000,000, and is 
fully four miles long. 

We return, mount the car, and are whirled to the top of the 
incline. We thank our guide of the lower regions, promising if we 
meet any of his friends in Pennsylvania to bear them cheerful 



86 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

greetings, and resigning ourselves to the guardianship of our volu- 
ble guide with the "rich, Irish brogue," we are soon out of the shaft, 
into the open air, and breathe freer. A refreshing bath, and we 
are ready to follow the ore through its various processes of manipu- 
lation until it is turned into bricks of bullion. 

Let us go to the Consolidated Virginia Mine to see how it is done. 
The quartz rock is raised from the mine in little cars. The ma- 
chinery is of the most substantial character. The engines are large 
and powerful, and move smoothly and almost noiselessly, like a 
thing of life. When a car comes to the surface it is pushed on a 
track, railroaded to the stamping mill and dumped into shutes which 
carry the ore to the stamps. These are arranged in rows, and the 
rock is fed to them very regularly. They keep up a terrible clatter, 
but the heavy iron pestles descend with a force that means busi- 
ness. A continuous stream of water is poured into the mortars, 
which washes the finely powdered quartz through the meshes, of a 
seive into a large flume which carries it to the pan mill, about 
a quarter of a mile distant. Here it flows into large tanks where 
the dust settles to the bottom and the water runs off". It is then put 
into pans, which are great iron hoppers holding 3,000 pounds 
each, and ground for three hours until it is an impalpable powder. 
Three hundred and forty pounds of mercury are then added, and 
the grinding continued two hours longer, when the gold and silver 
unite with the mercury and form an amalgam. After being thus 
ground it is run into what are anomalously called "settlers," where 
it is kept in continuous agitation for two and a half hours longer, 
when it is drawn off into large canvas bags through which a por- 
tion of the mercury filters, leaving the amalgam behind. The 
amalgam is a white unctuous mass which you can press in j^our 
hand like soft putty. From the strainers it is transferred to a large 
iron pan and washed with a solution of cyanide of potassium and 
water, which removes all the dirt. It is next put into a hj^draulic 
press, holding sixteen hundred pounds, the pressure is applied, 
and six hundred pounds of the quicksilver is forced out. Of 
the remaining one thousand pounds of amalgam, three-fourths 
is mercury. We now follow it to the retorts, which are similar 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 87 

to those used in gas works, and will each hold a ton of the 
amalgam. The retorts are tightly closed in front, but have an 
opening at the back part, with a pipe leading to a cold water 
condenser. Intense heat is applied, the mercury is volatilized, 
driven off and condensed under water, while the crude bullion, 
which in appearance resembles pipe clay, is left behind in a mass. 
This is then taken to the assaying room, where it is put into large 
crucibles, borax is added for a flux, and the dross rising to the 
surface is skimmed oif, leaving the pure metal, which is run into 
bricks weighing 2,000 ounces, and are worth $5,000 each when 
they contain gold and silver, and $3,000 each when only silver. 
In order to separate the gold from the silver, the bricks are 
placed in sulphuric acid and boiled. The silver combines with the 
acid, forming sulphate of silver, and the gold is set free. The 
sulphate of silver is then run over plates of copper, the acid unit- 
ing with the copper forms sulphate of copper, and the silver is 
liberated. 

The assaying room is one of very great interest. The machinery 
is of the most delicate kind. They have scales which weigh 5,000 
ounces, and yet they are so constructed that the hundredth part of 
an ounce will turn them. We saw a small scale which weighs the 
twenty-five hundredths of an ounce. 

Great accuracy is required, as the smallest proportion of a grain 
will make a diflerence of $50 to $60 in determining the value of a 
brick. 

Every ton of ore is assayed to find its value, and must produce 
that amount of precious metal so that there can be no stealing done 
by any of the workmen. A half ounce of the crushed quartz is 
used for making the assay. The quartz is put into a crucible with 
some borax, soda and litharge, thence into a furnace and heated. A 
lead button is formed, the gold and silver uniting with the lead in 
the litharge. This lead button is next put in a small cupel, made 
of bone dust, and placed in the furnace. The cupel absorbs the 
base metal, leaving the gold and silver in the form of a small glob- 
ule, varying in size from a pin's head to that of a pea. according to 



88 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



the quantity of precious metal contained in the ore. Thi? is put 
into acid, the one separated from the other, and the quantity of 
each of the precious metals is thus obtained. The whole process of 
assaying and finding the value of the ore, is one requiring skill and 
a thorough acquaintance with the science of analysis. The ore ta- 
ken from the same mine varies in value, and is worth " from noth- 
ing to five thousand dollars a ton," as we were informed. 

We are under many obligations to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Elder, the 
chief assaj^er, and Mr. Shaw, all of the Virginia mine, for much 
valuable information, many favors, and the fine specimens of quartz 
rock which we were enabled to carry away with us. 

Having seen the mines, the ore, the machinery, the process of ex- 
tracting the gold and silver, and having " done " Virginia, we were 
ready to shake its dust from our feet, and turn our faces eastward 
again. We step aboard the cars, bid farewell to the city and its 
bonanza mines, and are off again over this cork-screw of a railroad 
which winds in and out, among and around the mountains, and at 
last are safely landed in Carson. We stop here only a few minutes, 
and are then off again for Reno, which we reach at nine o'clock, 
and where we must wait until three the next morning for the over- 
land express. We will leave you waiting here another week before 
we resume our journey. 



NUMBER FOURTEEN. 

homeward— ogden— cheyenne to denver— colorado 

springs— cheyenne canyon— garden of the 

gods— pike's peak— iowa— home. 

Lebanon, Pa., August 29, 1879. 
" Wake me early in the morning, at the first break of day," 
are the words which have been put into the mouth of poor old Nic- 
odemus, a "slave of African birth." He wanted to be waked for 
the great jubilee of freedom. We reached Reno on the night of 
July 17th, and wanted to be waked early for the overland express, 
which left at 3 o'clock in the morning. 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



Long before the day had any thought of breaking we were down 
stairs and out in the darkness. We found the train already there, 
and stepping aboard the cars, were soon whirling eastward. When 
day finally broke, and the passengers were astir, we found our 
friends whom we had left at Lake Tahoe, and in addition thereto, 
our friend Ed. S. Wagoner, Secretary of the Pennsylvania State 
Sunday-school Association, and his party, so that there were no less 
than sixteen of the Pacific Pilgrims on the train, all of whom were 
homeward bound, and who, with two exceptions, expected to spend 
some time in seeing the sights in Colorado. 

We also had Francis Murphy, who was on his way from San 
Francisco, where he had been engaged in temperance work, having 
secured about eight thousand signers to the pledge. We found him 
to be a genial Irishman, whose company we enjoyed. 

We are now on the Nevada desert, with sage brush as the only 
sign of vegetation. Near one of the stations we saw two tramps 
lying on the sand, with the sun pouring his burning rays into their 
faces. They were sleeping sound]3^ totally oblivious to all sur- 
rounding circumstances. Their hands and faces looked as though 
they had not seen water for an age. I have sometimes envied these 
fellows their delightful leisure, and their entire freedom from the 
cares of business, but having had a long vacation, my feelings 
were those of pity and disgust. 

About nine o'clock we reached Humboldt, a delightful spot of 
green in this great Desert. Here, by a system of irrigation, the 
desert has been made to blossom as the rose. The beautiful ver- 
dure, and the babbling fountain in front of the hotel, were a relief 
after the sand and alkali of the plains. We pass other places of in 
terest where we had receptions by the citizens and Sunday-schools 
on our wa}^ west, and reach Ogden on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock. 
Here the Central and Union Pacific roads meet and shake hands 
over the spoils of the travelers. They have entered in a compact 
to remain united, and this alliance is mutually profitable to all con- 
cerned, as the plethoric pocket-books of the management and stock- 
holders abundantly attest. We had to wait here two hours for time 



90 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

to get even, as the one road runs by San Francisco and the other by 
Omaha time. 

At length we are off, and from this point to Evanston we pass 
some of the most magnificent scenery on the road, which has been 
described in our letter westward. The time is passed most delight- 
fully with such pleasant company. In the afternoon we had a court 
trial, and as we were near Wyoming, where women vote and hold 
office, we had a lady for judge. Witnesses were heard, the case ar- 
gued, and "her honor" rendered the decision. The sentence was 
severe, the sex of the judge, perhaps, having something to do with 
its severity. Some of us had thought of running down to Salt Lake 
City and spending Sabbath there, but as the majority wanted to go 
on and spend Sunday somewhere in the mountains, we concluded 
to pursue our journey eastward with the party. But where shall we 
stop? was the question. As night came we could find no place that 
seemed suitable, and so we concluded to run on to Denver-, even 
though we would have to travel on Sabbath. 

Sunday morning we had a most delightful service on the train, 
conducted by Mr. Wagoner, and participated in by a number of the 
tourists. We felt that though we could find no suitable place to 
stop and spend Sunday in worship, we could still honor God by this 
service on the cars. 

On Sabbath afternoon our train stopped on the plains, near a 
natural soda spring and gave all an opportunity of tasting the 
water. It is strongly impregnated with soda, and on the ground 
around the spring there is quite a deposit of the salt, the result of 
the evaporation of the water. 

Farther on we saw a herd of antelope quietly grazing near the 
road. As the cars passed they raised their heads, looked at us with- 
out evincing the least astonishment or fear, and then resumed their 
eating. 

At 3 o'clock we reached Cheyenne where we changed cars for 
Denver, one hundred and thirty -five miles distant by rail. You 
must leave the line of the Union Pacific railroad, as we learned, if 
you would see the Rocky Mountains in all their grandeur. The 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 91 

scenery from Cheyenne to Denver is beautiful. On our right were 
the mountains, peak after peak rising, the one above the other, 
while Long's Peak stood high over all, like a watchful sentinel on 
duty. On our left were the broad and fertile plains of Wyoming, 
where large bands of horses and great herds of cattle roamed at 
pleasure or grazed undisturbed, except by the shrill whistle of the 
locomotive. The prairie dogs, cute little fellows that they are, sat 
erect and looked at us so comically, or scampered off to their homes 
as fast as they could, doubtless feeling a sense of security there. We 
reach the Cache la Poudre Valley, a beautiful fertile tract of coun- 
try, watered by a river of the same name. An abundance of cotton- 
wood and box elder grow along the stream, while the ripening 
grain and growing corn give abundant evidence of the fertility of 
the soil. Boulder, Longmont, Golden, and other towns are passed, 
and at 9 o'clock at night we are safely landed in Denver, the capi- 
tal of the State. The city claims a population of 30,000. Its streets 
are laid out at right angles, are fine and wide, with rows of trees 
shading the sidewalks, and lending additional beauty to the sur- 
rounding scenery. It is a pretty city, has some elegant buildings, 
fine large stores, and does a great deal of business, being the princi- 
pal source of supply for the surrounding towns and mining regions. 
The arrivals for the week were nearly three thousand, many of 
whom came to stay, while others, like ourselves, were there as 
tourists. 

Tuesday morning (July 22), we left by the Denver and Rio 
Grande railroad for Colorado springs, seventy-five miles farther 
south. The Rio Grande is a narrow-gauge road, with Denver as its 
northern, and Alamosa, on the Rio Grande river, as its southern 
terminus. The road runs close to the mountains, which have a pe- 
culiar blue tint when seen from a distance, but as we approach 
them, this changes and you see the red color of the soil, and find 
they have comparatively little verdure. The sunlight as it filtered 
through the clouds, gives them a glorious coloring of light and shade 
which an artist might well envy to depict. 

Our route for Colorado was laid out by the Rev. Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson, superintendent of Presbyterian missions in the West. He 



93 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

was with our excursion, resides in Denver, and is thoroughly fa- 
miliar with the resorts in Colorado. By following his directions we 
were enabled to see many places of interest and economize time 
and money. 

Why Colorado Springs is thus named we were unable to learn, 
as the springs are at Manitou, six miles distant. The town was laid 
out in 1871, and now claims a population of 5,000, one-half of whom, 
I suppose, are invalids. There is no liquor sold in the place, and 
no licenses are granted. The deeds to the property exclude the sale 
of intoxicants forever on the premises, under a penalty of for- 
feiture. 

On the afternoon of our arrival we visited Cheyenne Canyon, 
about five miles from the town. The canyon is a deep gorge in the 
mountain, through which a stream tortuously finds its way, forming 
a series of magnificent falls and cascades from the time it leaves its 
home in the mountain top to the open plain below. 

At the entrance of the canyon some fellow, poetically inclined, 
thus advertises: 

" While your horse the herbage munches, 
Turn in here and get your lunches; 
Butter, and eggs, and bread— home-made, 
Iced cream, milk and lemonade; 
Coffee and tea, also, you'll find, 
Eat, drink, and through the canyon wind." 

A path leads along the stream, and once in the canyon you are 
enclosed on ever}^ side by high perpendicular walls. You wind 
along the stream, and as you turn and lookback, the way out seems 
impassible, as though some Titan had blockaded your pathway with 
an immense wall of stone. Half a mile up the canyon we come to 
a series of waterfalls which are magnificent, the water falling about 
fifty feet, and twisted very peculiarly in its descent. The scenery 
is weird and wild, and you return satisfied with one of the attrac- 
tions of Colorado. 

Glen Eyrie, with its massive rocks, its wealth of foliage, cascades, 
and, above all, its Major Domo, a needle-like rock one hundred 



AGB0S8 THE CONTINENT. 93 

feet in height, which might well be called Cleopatra's Needle, 
present scenery beautiful enough for the pencil of an artist. 

The Garden of the Gods is the most striking of all the peculiar 
rock formations. The entrance is formed by two ledges of rock, 
which are three hundred and fifty feet in height. Between these 
there is an opening probably sixty feet wide, in the centre of which 
stand Jupiter and Juno, two immense rocks from seventy-five to one 
hundred feet high, who seem to be the guardians of the garden. 
The rocks present various forms, some of them of the most grotesque 
character. Photograph Rock bears on its face a stag's head, a 
man's arm with clenched fist, and an ape's face, all of which are 
natural formations of red stone in grey rock. The Polar Rock, 
Seal and Nun, Pisa's leaning tower. Mother Grundy, Laughing 
Dutchman, the Balancing Rock and others, are most wonderful 
formations. 

From the Garden we drove to Manitou Springs. Here several 
hotels are erected, and it has become quite a famous health resort. 
The waters are iron and soda, with both of which they are very 
strongly charged. The Leadville road passes the springs, and 
leads through Ute Pass, which is well worth a visit. Large teams 
with heavily laden wagons slowly toil up the mountain road, 
alongsde of which, hundreds of feet below, is a stream that in 
descending forms a number of waterfalls, the finest of which is 
Rainbow Falls. 

We return to Colorado Springs by noon, for we have arranged 
for the greatest of all excursions, the ascent of Pike's Peak, and are 
to leave in the afternoon, reach the Lake House, four miles from 
the top, remain there all night, and make the ascent in the morning. 
Promptly on time " Old Marsh of Pike's Peak " (he can't deny the 
name, for it was distinctly lettered on the back of his coat in white 
paint,) was on hand with the "Donkey train," and seven as jolly 
tourists as you ever saw were ready. Our party consisted of four 
ladies and three gentlemen, and comprised an artist, a historian, a 
traveled lady, a poet, a parson, a funny man and a correspondent. 
As we looked at the diminutive donkeys, which bore the euphoni- 



94 ACE 088 THE CONTINENT. 

ous names of Tom, Jerry, Dick, Muldoon, Rarus, Wild Cat, 
Greaser, Jennie and Jack, one of which carried large tin panniers, 
containing the lunch, the question arose whether we should carry 
them, or they us. On Marsh's assurance that it was all right, we 
mounted and slowly wended our way toward the mountain amid 
the smiles and good wishes of the people w^ho had gathered to see 
us off. The funny man declared that my donkey's ears only were 
visible. We went by the Bear Creek trail, nineteen miles from the 
springs to the top. The trail wound up a deep canyon, but the 
time passed pleasantly, for something new was being continually 
unfolded before us. When we had attained an elevation of about 
nine thousand feet a storm came down on us. It was fearfully 
grand! The lightning flashed, almost blinding us by its nearness 
and it brilliancy, and the thunder rolled from peak to peak, until 
the reverberations were lost in the distance. The grandeur of 
such a thunder storm cannot be described. In about an hour the 
rain ceased and a stream of sunlight poured down through the 
canyon. A beautiful rainbow spanned the chasm from mountain 
to mountain, while every leaf and bush and spear of grass sparkled 
as though studded with brilliant gems. 

We reached the Lake House in the dusk of the evening, tired and 
wet, and were glad to enjoy the warm welcome of the generous 
stove. In looking over the register we found that our old friend, 
Isaac Frazer, member of the Board of Publication, and his son, E. 
K. Frazer, were here June 2, 1879, but could not get to the summit, 
as the snow was five feet deep. We were going to the summit, and 
for once I thought I would be ahead of my good brother Frazer. 

The next morning we started for the summit of the Peak. At 
an elevation of 13,000 feet we were above the timber line. Vegeta- 
tion was scant, but beautiful mountain flowers were in bloom in 
this high altitude. The donkeys stepped very carefully and slow- 
ly, and our poet, who was in the rear, fell away behind the rest 
and was observed to be busy with note book and pencil. When we 
reached the top and were enjoying the lunch, we were favored with 
the following which I will embalm for posterity: 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 95 



*' If ever I go to Pike's Peak again, 
I'll be sure to go by the donkey train, 
For the Donkey train the desire implants 
To take all your sisters, and your cousins, and your aunts. 

" I like to ride on a donkey small, 
For he steps so slow that he doesn't fall; 
His step is sure as an elephant's. 
And he'll carry all your sisters, and your cousins, and your aunts. 

"The donkey's little, but he's very strong; 
His feet are small, and his ears are long; 
His voice is musical, and he beautifully chants. 
Like any fellow's sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts. 

'* And, now, please pardon this little freak, 
Of rhyming as I'm climbing to the top of Pike's Peak; 
The peak whose trail the tourist's vision haunts. 
Along with his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts." 

A ride over rocks and snow, and, hurrah! here we are, on the 
top of Pike's Peak, 14,147 feet above the ocean! The least exertion 
is tiresome, the pulse is quickened, and beats life away at a fear- 
fully rapid rate — an average of 120 pulsations per minute. 

The government has a signal station erected here, and we were 
told the greatest velocity of the wind was 108 miles an hour, and 
the greatest cold 37 degrees below zero. The average temperature 
for the year was 18 degrees. In winter the signal men go up and 
down on snow-shoes. 

The view from the top is impressive, bounded only by the hori- 
zon and the clouds. Away off in the distance was the Arkansas 
Valley, with the river barely distinguishable. Mountain peaks 
were piled behind and on top of each other, as though the Almighty 
hand had shaken them from cloudland, and they had fallen in one 
confused mass. Deep gorges lay at our feet, into which we looked 
with a shudder, while away off stretched the valley of the Colo- 
rado, with the springs in the distance. After two hours we were 
ready to return. Away off to our left the clouds had gathered, and 
from out their darkness we saw vivid lightning flashes. We reach- 
ed the Lake House, where we rested a few minutes, and then con- 
tinued our descent, the storm all the while preceding us. When we 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



had descended five thousand feet we found great quantities of hail 
in the pathway, aud when we reached Colorado Springs, about 8 
o'clock, we were informed that one of the heaviest storms they had 
for years had just preceded us. We were most fortunate in escap- 
ing its fury. We were glad to retire early, after twenty -three miles 
of mountain climbing on such slow going animals as donkeys. 

Pike's Peak was discovered in 1844, by Col. Pike of the U. S. A., 
whilst on an exploring expedition up the Arkansas river. The 
Peak was named in his honor. The first persons who ever ascended 
it were some of Fremont's party, among them Kit Carson, about 
1848-9. The Pike's Peak gold discovery was made by a French- 
man, Joe DeFecto, in the year 1857. Joe was defect-ive in his judg- 
ment, for his gold proved to be iron pyrites. Gold, however, was 
found on Camp Creek, and in Cherry Creek, at what is now Den- 
ver. In 1858 the great excitement and rush began. In 1862 gold 
was found in California Gulch, near what is now Leadville,^ and 
proved to be very rich. My informant told me that he and two 
others took out $9,000 worth of dust in three months. 

Friday, July 25th, we bade our lady friends good-bye and re- 
turned to Denver, where we remained until Monday, when we 
started eastward. We reached Omaha on Tuesday afternoon, and 
by nine o'clock were in Denison, thirty miles south of Ida, where 
our friends Kolp and Kennedy reside, whom we had promised to 
visit on our return. 

A ride across the prairies, where we lost our way several times, 
brought us, about ten o'clock, to the farm of Brother Kennedy. 
He has fourteen hundred acres of as fine land as you can see any 
where, seven hundred of which are under cultivation. He was in 
the midst of harvest, and two of M'Cormick's self-binding har- 
vesters were cutting the stalks of well-filled grain. Bro. Kennedy 
was in good health, has developed into a first-class farmer, and is 
enjoying life in his new, western home. 

After dinner we drove over to the home of our good Brother Kolp. 
He, too, is nicely fixed. He has the finest house we saw between 
Denison and Ida. It commands a view of the town, two miles 



ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 97 

distant, the railroad and a large portion of the surrounding country'-. 
David was busy at work cutting grain, and looked like an old farmer, 
and not like the active, pushing merchant, as when he was in Harris - 
burg. He has 480 acres of land, only 160 acres in the farm where he 
resides. Brother Kolp is enjoying good health. Mrs. Kolp and the 
children are in excellent health and like their new home. We 
spent the night with him, and after we returned from Ida, at 10 
o'clock at night, we hitched the horses in the harvester and cut an 
acre of oats, your correspondent driving and David working the 
machine. 

The country about Ida is beautiful. It would be hard to find 
better land anywhere, suitable alike for farming or grazing. 
Nearly every farm has a stream of water, and the soil is of that 
rich prairie loam that is so productive. 

On our way to Denison, we stopped to see the family of Brother 
George Yousling, who has just moved into the country. Sister 
McFadden is with them. They were all well, and though their 
home is new and so entirely different from Harrisburg, they 
doubted not they would like it equally as well after they were 
rightly settled. 

There are quite a number of church members here, and the Iowa 
Eldership should look after our church interests in this locality. 

Leaving Denison, at 9 o'clock at night, by 4 o'clock of Friday, 
August 1st, we were in Chicago, which place we left the same 
evening. On Saturday afternoon w^e were among the mountains 
of Pennsylvania, and felt at home once more. The mountains of 
Pennsylvania are in "striking contrast with those of the far West. 
The Sierra Nevada and Rock}'^ Mountains are grand and majestic; 
the Alleghanies are beautiful. The pine, spruce and fir, mingling 
with the oaks, present a contrast of coloring that is magnificent, 
while from base to summit thc}^ are covered with a luxuriant 
growth of timber. 

At 11 o'clock at night we step from the cars in the city of Harris- 
burg, and the next morning at six, reach Lebanon, after an absence 
of a little more than ten weeks. 



ACB0S8 THE CONTINENT. 



Our Pacific excursion was ended. Many pleasant acquaintances 
were formed en route and in California, all of whom will be remem- 
bered with pleasure. A kind Providence watched over me, and 
not an hour's sickness, or detention, or any accident marred the 
pleasure of the trip. To Him I give heartfelt thanks. To the 
tourists and friends whom I met, and from whom I received so 
many kindnesses, and to the readers for their kind indulgence as I 
have tried to take them with me "Across the Continent," I return 
my thanks and kind wishes. 




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